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CONTENTS: NUCLEAR
The Czech government has promised that the Temelin nuclear power plant
will not be put into operation until
all problems related to the malfunctioning
of safety valves in its steam generator are eliminated, according
to Sept. 26 report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The State
Nuclear Safety Office has ordered a repeat of several unsuccessful safety
checks at the Temelin nuclear power plant after tests carried out this
week failed t o pass all necessary criteria, according to a Sept. 23
report from Radio Prague. CEZ, the
Czech power producer, was ordered to replace
valves and re-seal steam supply pipes, causing a week's delay in the
start-up of the plant, which Austrian and German environmentalists say
should be halted because it is unsafe, according to Reuters. "They
have to cool down the reactor to
about 60 degrees Celsius, repair the installation
and then get back to the
nearly operational temperatures they have already been working at,''
Czech Nuclear Safety spokesman Pavel Pittermann was quoted by Reuters
as saying. Plant's foes block border, Havel rejects pressure tacticAustrian opponents of the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia
have held several actions along the Czech Austrian border, and blocked
almost all crossings during Sept. 22-23, but Czech President Vaclav Havel
said the blockades will have no effect because he does not want to
negotiate with the activists under pressure, according to Radio Prague. At
some crossings, several rows of tractors blocked passage and resulted in
waiting periods for truck drivers of up to nine hours. The protesters
appealed to the Czech authorities and parliament to put off the launch of
Temelin until early next year, and to hold public hearings on the problem.
Havel said he would agree to talk to environmental activists, but not
while he feels they are applying pressure in the form of blockades. EU official: Nuclear controversy won't stop Czech accession bid
EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told a news conference in
Brussels on Sept. 20 that the Czech Republic's EU entry preparations would
not be delayed by Austrian concerns over the imminent activation of the
Temelin nuclear power plant, according to a report from Reuters. "My
personal opinion is that the question of Temelin will not block the
negotiations," Verheugen, the European Union's top enlargement
official,
was quoted by
Reuters as saying. "I'm convinced that the Czech Republic will be
able to
provide sufficient information about the state of safety in Temelin."
Austria, which borders the Czech Republic, has said it will not conclude
negotiations on Czech membership of the European Union until further
checks
have been carried out at Temelin, and German politicians have also voiced
opposition to the plant, which was built under an old Soviet design with
some modernisation. Bulgaria's nuclear watchdog chief faces sackingBulgaria's environment minister on Sept. 14 demanded the dismissal of the head of the nuclear watchdog agency after she said he gave alarmist misinformation about increased radiation during an incident at the Kozloduy nuclear plant, according to Reuters. Georgi Kaschiev who heads the Atomic Energy Agency, said he would not step down because his information was true, Reuters reported. Kaschiev had told a local daily newspaper that, during an Aug. 27-28 incident, a Kozloduy reactor sent radiation near the reactor to unacceptable levels, and two workers were affected. Yordan Yordanov, the plant's executive director, said the incident was not as serious as Kaschiev had described, adding that the plant's management classified the incident at level one on the International Atomic Agency's zero-to-seven International Nuclear Event Scale, according to Reuters. But Kaschiev maintained that the exposure was 70-80 times above the normal level, and said that he would defend his assertions, Reuters reported. Contact: Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217; or Bulgarian Environment Minister Dr. Evdokia Maneva, tel: (359-2) 882-577; web: http://www.moew.government.bg; or Donka Benova, Bulgarian National Center of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection at the Ministry of Health, tel: (359-2) 621-123 or (359- 2) 684-074; e-mail: benova@ncrrp.nlcv.net Russian loan to help in modernising Bulgaria's Kozloduy plantRussia will grant Bulgaria a loan of up to USD 150 million for the
modernisation of two reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, located
along the Danube River in Bulgaria, according to a Sept. 19 report from
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Roseximbank is to grant the loan to a
Bulgarian contractor, designated by the Sofia authorities under an agreement
signed by the two sides on Sept. 14, the report said. AROUND THE REGION Bulgarian NGOs seek support in campaign to save pristine Pirin ParkEnvironmental NGOs from Bulgaria are calling for letters from around the world to help them keep out ski trails and preserve the pristine nature of their country's Pirin Mountain National Park, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. According to a web site and a widely circulated e-mail, plans to cut down the Pirin forests to make way for the ski trail put the park's world heritage rating at risk. The groups behind the campaign have asked Bulgarian citizens, and anyone concerned, to go to the web site, sign the letter that is available there and send copies to the Bulgarian Council of Ministers and the president of Bulgaria at the following e-mail addresses: IPRD@government.bg or president@president.bg. The web site, http://bluelink.net/pirin/ contains copies of the letter in English and Bulgarian. Contact: Visit the web site at http://bluelink.net/pirin/ or contact Blue Link Information Network, tel: (359-2) 920-1547; fax: (359-2) 217-623. . NGOs concerned about another spill in Baia Mare
A Sept. 20 spill at another mining site in Baia Mare Romania has prompted
NGOs to demand that the Romanian Government do more to "minimise the
risk of accidents/spillages in the year ahead." According to news
reports and Romanian NGOs, 140 cubic metres of mining waste from a facility
owned by a firm called REMIN was spilled into the soil and groundwater
because of a leak in a pipeline leading to a tailings pond. The NGOs said
that the company faces sanctions for the incident, but that only 900 metres
of the 22-kilometre long pipeline involved in the spill had been repaired
recently. According to the NGOs, the Romanian Government had assured
officials with the international Baia Mare Task Force, which was formed in
the wake of the January spill that decimated the Tisza River, that they
would "place all such sites under regular surveillance" and take
other steps to prevent such spills. The NGOs -- the Danube Environmental
Forum Network and the Eco-Counseling Center of Galati -- said the government
must take its promise seriously and do more to prevent spills. The Baia Mare
Task Force had a meeting scheduled for Oct. 2, where they will likely
discuss this and related issues. Albania charges six with attempted coral smugglingPolice in Tirana, Albania, reported on Sept. 20 that they had arrested
four French citizens and two Italians on charges of attempting to smuggle
coral out of Albania, according to reports. Police said they found sacks
containing 57 kilos of red coral (Corrallium rubrum) in the suspects' hotel
rooms after a tip-off from villagers in the Saranda area, according to the
Albanian Daily News. Albania's coral reefs are protected by law. Dry summer takes toll on Czech hops cropThe exceptional heat wave of this past summer has had a devastating
effect on farmers who grow hops for Czech beer production, and they are
expecting a harvest that is diminished by 35 to 50 percent, according to a
Sept. 13 report from Prague Post Online. The bad season is especially hard
on hops farmers because the vines that hops are raised on require about
three years growth before they are ready to harvest, so the vines that died
this year will take time to replace, the report said. Many environmentalists
suspect that the drought that hit the region this summer was a symptom of
climate change. Conference on electricity and gas planned for WarsawThe Warsaw Energy Meeting, to be held in the Polish capital Oct. 10-12,
offers a participants the opportunity to learn "about the latest
developments of the Central and Eastern European energy markets,"
according to an op enly circulated e-mail. Among topics scheduled for
discussion is the Polish energy exchange and its effect on trade in the
region and the future role of renewable energy sources within the CEE energy
markets. Participants and exhibitors were still being sought as of Sept.
14. Slovak premier says UN chief not needed to mediate dam disputeSlovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda has turned down an offer Foreign from UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan to mediate in the Slovak-Hungarian feud over
the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam, Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan said on Sept. 1
1, according to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Kukan said
that Dzurinda met with Annan at the recent UN Millennium Summit in New York
and Annan asked him whether Bratislava would welcome the help of "a
third party" to settle the dispute, but Dzurinda replied that such help
is "not necessary" because talks are under way with Hungary, the
report said. Romanian ecologists form political alliance for electionsThree ecologist parties agreed on Sept. 19 to work together in the
"Ecologist Pole" ahead of the November parliamentary elections,
according to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Under the
agreement, the Romanian Ecologist Party (PER), the Green Ecological
Alternative and the Party of Ecologist Convention, will run on joint lists
and nominate a joint presidential candidate. PER chairman Otto Weber will
chair the Ecologist Pole , the report said. Foundation giving out GBP 400,000 in conservation awards
The Whitely Awards Foundation has announced that it is offering GBP
400,000 in awards of up to GBP 50,000 for conservation projects. The e-mail
announcing the awards said the deadline for applications is Oct. 15.
"The Foundation seeks to fund conservationists who do not work within
large or international organisations, as they often find if difficult to
obtain significant funding for their work," the announcement said.
"Important components of any application are the amount of local
involvement in the project, its sustainability in the future and its likely
long term impact on the chosen conservation issue." Aarhus convention guide helps public get involved in the environment
Online and print versions of a new guide to the "Aarhus
Convention" can help officials implement the convention and help the
public use the convention to get involved in environmental decisions. The
1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is an
international agreement designed to make it easier for citizens to
participate in decisions that will affect their environment. According to
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, the Aarhus Convention
"Is the most ambitious venture in the area of 'environmental democracy'
so far undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations." WWF: Polish dam project may interfere with accession
Poland "risks delaying" its accession to the EU if it goes
ahead with two planned river dam projects, environmental group WWF claimed
on Sept. 19, according to ENDS Environment Daily. While the European
Commission has not made a definitive comment on new dams planned on the
Vistula River -- at Nieszawa, in central-northern Poland, and at Odrain the
south-west -- environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom expressed
"concern" over the plans during a visit to Poland in April, ENDS
reported. According to WWF, construction would breach commitments by
accession countries to apply EU laws to infrastructure projects even before
formal entry to the bloc, ENDS reported. The Polish government says the
Nieszawa project is needed to prevent erosion undermining an existing dam on
the river, but WWF Poland claimed that the new dam would only "transfer
problems down the river," ENDS reported. The project has the Polish
cabinet approval, and could get underway as soon as the Polish parliament
decides on funding -- possibly before October, according to ENDS. SEE RECONSTRUCTION Acid spill in Kosova closes road, pollutes riverThe Pristina-Kosovska Mitrovica road was temporarily closed by a Sept. 12
spill of sulfuric acid from a tank containing 600,000 liters of the
substance, some of which entered the Sitnica River, according to a report
from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The UN civilian administration said in
a statement on Sept. 13 that the acid was from the battery factory at the
Trepca complex, in the southern, Albanian zone of Mitrovica, the report
said, adding that firefighters and peacekeepers eventually contained the
problem. UNEP assesses environmental damage in Albania, Macedonia
In field missions during late September, experts from the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) were to assess the damage that last year's
conflict in Kosovo caused in neighbouring FYR Macedonia and Albania,
according to reports. The missions will also assess the ability of the two
governments to deal with the environmental problems that confront their
countries, according to a Sept. 11 report from Environmental News Service (ENS). International NGO formed to oppose depleted uranium weapons
The International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST) is seeking
volunteers and advisory board members, particularly in countries that have
been hit by depleted uranium (DU) weapons, or where DU is suspected to be
part of the military arsenal, according to an e-mail sent by the group.
IDUST is an NGO founded by international researchers, activists and
scientists with a global strategy to stop the use of Depleted Uranium U-238
(DU) in military weapons by the year 2010, the announcement said. NEWS FOR JOURNALISTS Journal offering subscriptions, seeking queries
"The Journal of Corporate Citizenship," a quarterly journal
that will cover a variety of topics, including the environment, and will be
published January, April, July and October, is seeking contributors for its
first issue, set for January, according to a widely circulated e-mail.
According to the e-mail: "The Journal of Corporate Citizenship is a
multidisciplinary publication and welcomes contributions from researchers
and practitioners immersed in public policy, organisational behaviour,
economic history, strategic management, citizenship, human rights, corporate
governance, sustainability management, responsible supply chain management,
stakeholder management, poverty, gender and globalisation -- to name just a
few of the areas represented in the hundreds of ideas and abstracts
submitted to the editorial team in 2000." Advance subscription are
being offered at discounts of up to 50 percent. WHO WE ARE About Green Horizon"Green Horizon" is a free newsletter
designed to help journalists stay ahead of environmental news
in Central and Eastern Europe. We offer tips on upcoming stories
to watch for, as well as information and ideas to help you develop
in-depth pieces about the region's environment. "Green Horizon"
is produced by the Regional Environmental Center for Central
and Eastern Europe. To join the mailing list: Send e-mail to:
GreenHorizon@rec.org. Funded by the European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. |
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