Temelín report draws doubts

The government of the neighboring Upper Austria region is preparing legal action over an environmental impact assessment (EIA) carried out on the planned expansion of the Temelín nuclear power plant, branding the study a "farce" that contravenes European Union law.

It is the latest in a string of cases taken in recent years by the region against the Czech plant, which lies just 60 kilometers from the Austrian border. The latest dispute is over plans to add two new reactors to the south Bohemian facility.

A coalition of Czech environmental NGOs also opposes the plans, calling the expansion "absolutely good for nothing."

In May, the partially state-owned energy supplier ČEZ, which operates the plant, delivered a 500-page environmental impact assessment (EIA) to the Environment Ministry.

The report, which has been circulated to local communities and neighboring countries, including Austria, found that the additional reactors would not harm the environment.

In a statement, ČEZ said the EIA, which runs to 2,500 pages including appendices, had involved the work of some 200 experts.

Upper Austrian Environment Minister Rudi Anschober (Green Party) and Radko Pavlovec, the region's anti-nuclear envoy in the Czech Republic, are spearheading a legal campaign against the plans.

They said the study failed to specify the disposal methods for radioactive waste or to provide a technical description of the planned reactors.

"The EIA procedure regarding the new Temelín reactors is merely a farce under the baton of the nuclear power lobby," Pavlovec told The Prague Post. "Through this mock trial, the appearance of legitimacy is created, but the rights of citizens are disregarded."

Pavlovec said the Czech Republic has exported energy "more than the equivalent of the entire production of the current Temelín reactors" in recent years, arguing that no added capacity is justified in the midterm.

Martin Roman, the CEO of ČEZ, has said the company believes "there is still no other non-emissions resource that could generate the necessary volume of electricity" to serve increasing Czech energy needs beyond 2015.

Speaking at the outset of the EIA study in July 2008, Roman added that ČEZ considered nuclear energy "the best possible solution in terms of economy and ecology."

A 30-day window for Austrians to lodge their objections to the study began Aug. 26. Afterward, the Environment Ministry has up to 90 days to publish a report evaluating any objections to the plans.

Petr Krs, vice president of the State Office for Nuclear Safety, said he could not comment on the EIA study while the consultation process was still under way.

Krs said, however, that he believed Upper Austria was entitled to seek legal recourse.

"I believe it is the legal right of anybody to take a legal case. We have had several cases about Temelín from Austria already, and I think it's all right."

Krs said public hearings would follow before the EIA process is completed next year, adding the final decision on the issue rests with the Environment Ministry.

Pavlovec said he believed the consultation process violates EU law because it does not allow for objectors to refer the study to an independent court.

In June, the European Court of Justice found Czech law broke EU directives on such studies because of the lack of legal recourse. The law has since been revised, but it explicitly excludes processes that are already under way.

"Thus, this controversial proceeding is still being conducted on the basis of one law, which has already been recognized as unlawful under EU rules," Pavlovec said.

Pavlovec and Anschober are petitioning the Austrian national government to get involved in the issue.

Pavlovec said the report fails to specify radioactive waste disposal methods, adding the Czech Republic has no such facility.

"Most of [the EIA report] applies to unimportant areas such as noise, air pollution control and the impact on flora and fauna," Pavlovec said.

He also argued that by stating that each type of reactor under consideration for the project "fulfills the previous guidelines," the EIA study was seeking to circumvent procedure and undermine citizens' rights.

The Green Party opposes the expansion of Temelín on several grounds and would block it if the party was in government, party spokesman Tomáš Průša told The Prague Post.

The party said it was against the "unbreakable monopoly position" of ČEZ, something the Temelín expansion would reinforce.

Vojtěch Kotecký of the NGO Hnutí DUHA, part of Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, said the group believed the study "completely ignored the issue of ecological damage from increased extraction of uranium from mines or the disposal of highly radioactive waste."

The group is part of a coalition of Czech environmental organizations jointly promoting a "smart energy" campaign that aims to "stir up green innovations in the Czech economy," Kotecký said.

The coalition said their campaign report Chytrá energie (Smart Energy) shows that "green innovations would provide enough electricity for Czech households and industry without having to reinforce our dependence on uranium and coal mines."

ČEZ is currently tendering for companies to build the two new reactors, with an option to build three others in Dukovany, south Moravia, and Jaslovské Bohunice, Slovakia.

Three companies were vying for the massive tender, which according to estimates is worth up to 500 billion Kč ($25.5 billion). They are U.S.-based Westinghouse, French state-owned firm Areva and a Russian-led consortium that involves AtomStroyExport, Škoda JS and Gidropress.

Tender documents will go to the applicants in October, with a final decision expected in spring 2012. 

Friends of the Earth has questioned the power ČEZ was wielding in the process and said the company would virtually decide who would hold a majority stake in the Czech energy sector for the next 50 years.

Speaking to Austrian daily Kurier Aug. 24, Prime Minister Petr Nečas ruled out a renewed debate on Temelín, saying the issue was closed and there was nothing further to add to the matter.

- Caroline Korsawe, Klára Jiřičná and Filip Šenk contributed to this report.

Bill Lehane can be reached at
blehane@praguepost.com