Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant can Meet Difficulties

The completion of the third and fourth blocks at the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia can meet difficulties, reports Hospodarske Noviny daily. Apart from traditionally anti-nuclear oriented Austrian neighbour, objections are raised also by Green Fraction at the European Parliament. They say that Mochovce design and its equipment is not based on accident and earthquake safety considerations. In addition, they claim that Mochovce construction is far too advanced to be retrofitted to comply with international safety standards.

"Of course, it's necessary to respect the right of a sovereign state for solving its own energy security, but Austria will have a problem with the process of assessing influence on the environment, which was carried out during socialism," the anti-nuclear Upper Austrian government commissioner Radko Pavlovec told the daily.

Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority (UJD) chair Marta Ziakova says she can't imagine conditions under which the Mochovce 3 & 4 building permit could be taken away. "The construction is under permanent surveillance of UJD," she said. The blocks will not be built according to the original plan, but the plant will be equipped by modern systems in line with the current regulations.

Numerous evaluations of foreign institutions including International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) confirmed that safety of Slovak reactors is at the level of operators in Western Europe," said Slovenske Elektrarne (Mochovce operator) spokesman Juraj Kopriva.

(Source: SKtoday.com)