Energy issues

17. 12. 2015 | The Calendar for SÚRAO: Our Secure Future Without Geological Disposal Facility. The Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (SÚRAO) gets an unusual Christmas gift in the form of a 2016 calendar. It was dedicated to it by representatives of municipalities and associations from all seven sites, which have been identified by SÚRAO as potentially suitable for the construction of a permanent geological disposal facility for spent fuel. Every month, the images in the calendar will remind SÚRAO of that people oppose the state procedure for the reasons listed in a press release.

15. 12. 2015 | The new Draft Raw Material Policy of the Czech Republic, prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, intends to significantly change the direction which was set after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 to gradually phase out problematic uranium mining. It considers desirable starting preparations to open a new mine for the extraction of insubstantial uranium reserves from the Brzkov-Horní Věžnice deposit. Mayors, the residents of the affected communities and environmental associations fundamentally oppose the preparation of mining in this area. More in a press release.

5. 12. 2015 | The Czech government decided that the Czech Republic will join, as an intervener, two legal actions brought by the state of Austria and the German company Greenpeace Energy eG against the European Commission. The cause of action is the decision from October last year, by which the then leaving commissioners enabled the UK and enterprise EDF to build two blocks of the nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C with the help of guaranteed electricity prices[1]. Plaintiffs do not consider this decision compatible with EU law because it unreasonably interferes with the set of rules of the free market. However, Czech government wants to actively defend the possibility to grant similar public monetary assistance to the investor in nuclear power plants because: "such action is not ruled out in the future" in domestic conditions. More in a press release.

23. 11. 2015 | Long-term storage, local geological disposal facility (GDF), the international GDF or perhaps spent fuel (SF) reprocessing abroad? There is no perfect and smooth solution for storage of thousands of tonnes of SF from the Dukovany and Temelín NPPs, which remain dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. However, the choice should be properly justified, discussed and a consensus in society should be achieved. A public SEA procedure on the "Updated Concept of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management" that has just been launched is giving us this opportunity. More in a press release.

9. 11. 2015 | Seminar "Diagnosis: Uranium Dreams and Nightmares" was held at Barevná kavárna in Prague on November 4. It was organized by Centre for Transport and Energy (CDE) and Calla. It was dedicated to the health problems of workers and residents in the vicinity of uranium mines in Namibia and the Czech Republic, especially in the Liberec region, where the reclamation of land after mining costs tens of billions of Czech crowns. The problematic plans for new uranium mining in the Czech Republic were also analysed. Presentations in Czech by Josef Jadrný (Deputy Governor of Liberec Regional Authority), Miroslav Šuta (the health consultant at Centre for Environment and Health (CŽPZ) and Edvard Sequens (the energy consultant at Calla) and photographs from the seminar are here. Presentation on Namibia in English by Bertschen Kohrs (Chairman of EarthLife) can be found here.

4. 10. 2015 | The Journey to the Safest Place on Earth is the movie by Edgar Hagen, and deals with the issue of spent fuel (SF) from nuclear reactors. There are approximately 350,000 tons of SF in the world and each year more than 10,000 tonnes are being produced. It's the most dangerous waste that has ever been produced, and for the next hundred thousand years it must be securely stored and isolate it from the environment and humankind. Can a final geological disposal facility be constructed against the will of local residents? What role does a financial factor play in determining the site? Is a final repository safe option or is there only a temporary solution? The movie with Czech subtitles is looking for answers to these kind of questions. Terms and conditions for film screening & the movie info are here.

29. 7. 2015 |

July 29, 2015 - Municipalities and associations are suing the Minister of the Environment Brabec for giving permission to conduct geological surveys for a geological disposal facility. Calla filed three lawsuits. The reasons for it and more info in press release. Lawsuits can be downloaded from www.nechcemeuloziste.cz.

9. 6. 2015 |

June 9, 2015 - The Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM) has published a survey in May 2015 which shows that the public does not support the preparation of new reactors in Dukovany and Temelín NPPs. Only 22 % of respondents want a larger share of nuclear energy, while only six people out of one hundred are certainly convinced of it. As compared with the last May results, the public support for the government nuclear vision has also significantly decreased by 7 %. More in the press release.

3. 6. 2015 | Today the government approved the National Action Plan for the Development of Nuclear Energy (NAP JE) in the Czech Republic. It is annoying that the Ministry of Industry does not pay more attention to strategies of energy efficiency and development of renewable energy sources. Genuine energy security and autonomy of the Czech Republic is difficult to imagine without the use of considerable potential for energy savings and locally available renewables. More in the press release.