Brussels, 10/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Further to the recent incident at the Temelin nuclear power station in the Czech Republic, the Commission announced on Thursday that its team of inspectors to the site (see EUROPE of 9 June, p.11) has had access to all the premises and necessary equipment, and worked inside the reactor's building for five hours. "The Czech authorities were co-operative at all times, and undertook to provide access to all useful information. Detailed explanations of how the event unfolded were provided: notification in the control room, inspection, measures taken", stresses the Commission in a press release. The inspectors were able to confirm that there were no leaks within the building, and no exposure to workers.
On the morning of 6 June, an anomaly was spotted in Unit 2 of the Temelin power station. The reactor had been switched off on Saturday 5 June and, according to the press release, a volume of 3 cubic metres of water leaked from the circuit, but all of it was contained. The Commission immediately decided to send to Prague and Temelin a team of officials in charge of radioprotection checks, to collect information on the ground.
Article 35 of the Euratom Treaty confers a right of access upon the Commission to check the provisions established by the Member States to measure radioactivity in the environment, and discharge. Furthermore, under article 36 of the Euratom Treaty, the Commission must be kept abreast of rates of radioactivity which could have an impact on the population.