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EU urges extra safety for planned Slovak nuclear reactor
Brussels (AFP) July 15, 2008 The European Commission called Tuesday on Slovakia's main electricity producer to step up safety at its planned extension of a Soviet-era nuclear power plant, slammed by Greenpeace as a hazardous unit. Slovenske Elektrarne, 66 percent owned by Italian energy group Enel and 22 percent by the Slovak state, wants to complete two new reactors by 2012 and 2013 at the Mochovce plant in western Slovakia. Under the Euratom Treaty, the European Commission has to give a non-binding opinion on such works. "Even though the project shows compliance with the current national regulations of the Slovak Republic as well as international recommendations, the commission ... recommended a set of additional measures," it said in a statement. It said the proposed Russian-designed reactors did not have plans for a full containment structure common in most recent nuclear power plants in Europe. The commission said that the new reactors should be designed to withstand an impact from an "external source" such as "a malevolent small aircraft." The country's left-dominated government is keen to see the reactors completed as soon as possible. The booming Central European economy faces the prospect of importing 20 percent of its electricity in 2009 after a second Soviet-era reactor at Jaslovske Bohunice is closed at the end of this year. The closures were demanded by the European Commission as a condition for Slovakia's 2004 entry into the European Union. Greenpeace, which is challenging Bratislava's approval of the investment before the courts, slammed the commission's backing for the project. "The commission has just given the go-ahead to a nuclear project from the Cold War era that has no modern safety features," Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Jan Beranek said. "This is proof that the 50-year-old Euratom Treaty is totally inadequate and obsolete," he said. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed the European Comission recommendation. However, he also criticised confirmation that another two reactors at Jaslovske Bohunice should be closed as well. "The EC statement is a compromise for us," Fico said, adding he would prefer not to have to shut down the two other reactors. "Slovakia will have to import electricity in the next four or five years, this is a catastrophe," the prime minister said. He slammed the previous government over its commitment to shut down the reactors "which could have worked without problems up to 2020." He criticised Brussels for taking a year to give its verdict. "We lost a lot of time but I believe that Enel will stand by its promises and will start construction immediately." "We will do everything for that the two (Mochovce) blocs will be ready by 2012, 2013" to solve the electricity shortage, Fico said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Lithuania Plans Vote On Delaying Nuclear Shutdown
Vilnius (AFP) July 14, 2008Lithuanian lawmakers stepped up the pressure on the European Union Monday by calling a referendum to delay the EU-agreed closure of a Soviet-era nuclear plant that provides the bulk of the country's power. |
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