Group calls for nuclear safety rules for all Europe
Date: 18-Oct-00
Country: EU
Author: Robin Pomeroy
Demonstrations in Austria against the opening of a Soviet-designed plant in the Czech Republic last week highlighted an urgent need for pan-European standards, Friends of the Earth (FoE) told a news conference.
"After ten years (of discussions with eastern European countries) we still haven't solved the problem about how much safety is necessary and how much safety will be required for EU accession," FoE campaigner Patricia Lorenz said.
Austrian anti-nuclear demonstrators blocked the Czech/Austrian frontier over the weekend to protest about the start-up of the Temelin plant 50 kilometres (30 miles) over the Czech border.
FoE says there is no proof the plant is safe and that the EU had no power to inspect it.
The European Commission confirmed yesterday it had no power to check the installation.
Commission spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori told the EU executive's daily news briefing there was also no EU law - or "acquis communautaire" - on nuclear safety that countries joining the EU have to apply.
"There is no acquis on this matter so the Commission isn't in the position to study that nuclear power plant," Filori said. "There are no standards for nuclear safety that apply throughout Europe."
In a booklet published yesterday entitled "How safe is safe enough - Chernobyl reactors in the EU," the FoE lists plants it considers unsound in seven countries negotiating to join the EU - Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
The lack of EU power in this sector means its executive will be powerless to impose inspections on any of these plants, FoE said.
A working group of representatives from the 15 EU countries began looking at nuclear safety in the candidate countries last month and is due to produce a report by December.
Lorenz said she hoped that would lead to binding rules on safety standards that would apply across Europe.
