Transnational Issues Czech Republic Disputes - International:
"...Austrian anti-nuclear activists have revived blockades of the Czech-Austrian border to protest operation of the Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic"
CIA Factbook
Posted on 03/01/2007 2:49:36 PM PST by bd476
Leak of Radioactive Water Reported at Czech Nuclear Power Plant Deemed Harmless
The Associated Press
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - More than 500 gallons of radioactive water leaked at a nuclear power plant, but did not contaminate the environment, an official said Thursday.
The water leaked early Tuesday at the Temelin plant's first unit, which is currently shut down for fuel replacement, plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said.
"The water went to a special tank through a special ... system and none of it leaked to the environment," Nebesar said. He said that an open valve caused the leak.
The plant's second unit was running at full capacity.
Nebesar said the plant's management has informed Czech and Austrian authorities about the leak.
Austrian officials expressed surprise and anger over the delay in getting word of the mishap, which occurred while Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer was on an official visit to Prague.
Environment Minister Josef Proell lodged a formal protest with his Czech counterparts Thursday, insisting the Czech government explain "why it took more than 50 hours before Austria was informed" of the accident, said his spokesman, Daniel Kapp.
The Czech Republic and Austria have been at odds for years over the plant, located only 35 miles from the Austrian border. Austrian environmentalists have demanded the plant closed because of security concerns. Czech authorities insist it is safe.
Construction of the plant's two 1,000-megawatt units, based on Russian designs, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later upgraded with U.S. technology, but have remained controversial because of frequent malfunctions.
Just ignore those people you meet on the streets of Prague who are glowing in the dark tonight.
Transnational Issues Czech Republic Disputes - International:
"...Austrian anti-nuclear activists have revived blockades of the Czech-Austrian border to protest operation of the Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic"
CIA Factbook
UPI
Czech nuke plant sparks Austria protests
TEMELIN, Austria, March 1 (UPI) -- Opponents of a Czech nuclear plant near the Austrian border blocked border crossings in protest as the countries' leaders meet over the row.
Austrian protestors held one-hour blockades at three of the 10 Czech-Austrian border crossings Wednesday, Ceske Noviny reports, in protest of the Temelin plant. Austria had allowed the protests to occur, though it notified drivers to take alternate routs.
Czech authorities were tight-lipped. "There is no point in commenting on these regional events after the Czech prime minister and the Austrian chancellor on Tuesday launched a dialogue between the two countries on the topic," Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said.
The two leaders joint formed a parliamentary commission to study the nuclear plant and the uproar it has caused. The blockade action was the third such tactic.
Opponents of Temelin said they wouldn't stop and criticized Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer for not securing larger results. The opponents' calls were further bolstered when local news reported after the meeting that low-level radioactive water was leaking from the plant just the day before.
The Temelin plant, in the Czech Republic's South Bohemian region, is one of the country's two nuclear plants.
Czech nuke plant sparks Austria protests
Yes, but try telling that to
"...Austrian protestors held one-hour blockades at three of the 10 Czech-Austrian border crossings Wednesday, Ceske Noviny reports, in protest of the Temelin plant. Austria had allowed the protests to occur, though it notified drivers to take alternate routs."
EUX-TV
ROUNDUP: Temelin leak clouds Czech-Austrian relations
Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 16:34
By Ivonne Marschall and Katerina Zachovalova
Prague/Vienna (dpa) - Czech officials failed to inform Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer about a leak of mildly radioactive water that occurred the night before his visit to Prague Tuesday, spokesmen for Czech and Austrian leaders said on Thursday.
After he was informed of the leak on Thursday, Gusenbauer immediatelly phoned his Czech counterpart Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and told him this "was not the form he imagined of open, friendly cooperation", his spokesman Stefan Poettler said.
The spokesman for Czech government Martin Schmarcz told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the Temelin incident was not relevant enough to require the Czech side to inform the Austrian leader.
"Technical details were not debated," he said, adding later that the leak "is not a matter about which to inform the Austrian (chancellor)".
Schmarcz said he did not know about the leak on Tuesday and did not know whether the prime minister had any knowledge of it during the talks with his Austrian counterpart.
Following a surge in protests against Temelin by its Austrian opponents, the leaders of the two countries agreed in talks in Prague on Tuesday to set up a joint parliamentary commission on the controversial nuclear power plant.
The new chancellor told reporters on Tuesday more transparency is needed in order to dismantle animosities on both sides.
An Austrian government meeting is scheduled to formally endorse the decision to form the commission on Saturday.
Temelin informed Austrian authorities and the press about the leak of 2,000 litres, or an amount equal to ten average bathtubs, of mildly radioactive water in the plant's first unit on Thursday morning, or two days after it happened. The step came under an attack from both Austrian Temelin opponents and politicians.
The Upper-Austrian anti-Temelin group atomstopp-oberoesterreich said in a statement that the Czech Republic preferred to "gloss over the latest problem" - by its count the 100th since Temelin's 2000 launch.
"How embarassing would it have been for the chancellor if he was sent off with only the agreement for a parliamentary commission in the face of the 100th problem case?" speakers Roland Egger and Gabriele Schweiger said.
According to the Temelin spokesman Milan Nebesar, international agreements do not require the plant to inform the Austrian authorities immediately about a case of this importance.
"If they read the (relevant) article of the Melk treaty related to events of this kind they will see it provides a time limit of 72 hours," Nebesar told dpa, referring to a 2000 treaty between the two countries aimed at preventing safety disputes by a flow of information on the plant.
Nebesar said that it has been a standard practice for Temelin to inform the Austrian side at the same time as the press.
The spokesman for the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety Pavel Pittermann told dpa that Temelin first notified his office of "the insignificant matter" on Tuesday at 0500 GMT and then followed up with more details at around 1100 GMT, or at around the time when Gusenbauer arrived in Prague.
According to Temelin's spokesman, the leak did not pose a threat either to Temelin's employees or to the environment.
The leak happened when the plant's employees were filling a system that supplies the unit's primary circuit.
The water ran out through a manually-operated faucet left open by an employee who could not move it during a maintenance check, and left it that way assuming it was closed, Pittermann said.
According to Pittermann, the leaked liquid covered a 30-square- metre space that was immediately sluiced down and the water collected in a tank.
The plant's first unit is currently shut down for a fuel replacement, and is to be put back into operation in about a month.
The incident took place at the time when Austrian opponents of the Temelin plant have been putting pressure on their government so it sues the Czech Republic over the controversial facility for an alleged breach of the Melk treaty.
The Austrian anti-nuclear activists blocked border crossings three times within last three weeks and plan more protests and blockades in order to achieve their goal.
Temelin is a twin-unit, Soviet-era nuclear power plant updated with American technology, 60 kilometres from the Czech-Austrian border.
It was launched in 2000 despite protests by Austrian leaders and anti-nuclear activists, who dispute Czech claims that Western security controls had rendered the plant safe.
A similar leak took place in the plant's second unit last August, the CTK news agency reported.
ROUNDUP: Temelin leak clouds Czech-Austrian relations
Ping.
"an open valve caused the leak."
Now, THAT is what I call a definitive scientific revelation.
ROFL!
Then why are the trees humming? ............ FRegards
Thanks.
You're welcome, Grzegorz.
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