EU report calls for close look at Czech nuke plant
Date: 07-Sep-01
Country: FRANCE
The Temelin plant has been at the centre of a heated debate between the Czech Republic and Austria, which opposes nuclear power and views the plant - located near its border - as an environmental threat.
The Czech Republic is one of the candidate countries keen to join the 15-nation European Union. The European Parliament adopted a broad report assessing progress made by the Czechs in all fields to achieve its candidacy, including a call for a new analysis of risks posed by the nuclear plant.
The report suggests that the new analysis, to be conducted by the EU, consider closing the plant. The shutdown should be considered because of concerns about the safety of its structure and a worrying lack of data on its environmental impact.
Green party members who have successfully fought for the inclusion of the Temelin issue in the country report, welcomed the Parliament's vote.
"Temelin is an EU problem. This is an offer to the Czechs to find a EU solution," Austrian parliamentarian Mercedes Echerer told Reuters. "One way of doing it could be shutting it down."
The Parliament's vote means that the Czech Republic will have to respond to concerns about the safety of the plant when it starts incorporating the EU legislation for energy and environment.
The report also calls for an international forum to evaluate the price-tag for closing the plant, suggesting it may be possible to hold a donors' conference to help the Czech Republic meet the costs.
The Greens said they hoped the Temelin debate would spark a broader discussion on the state of nuclear plants in the accession countries, most of which are former Soviet satellites.
Many of the plants were built during the years of communism and do not meet strict EU safety standards. Closing them would be costly to the 12 countries which are candidates to become EU members.
