The European Commission has told the Czech government it should improve radioactivity-monitoring systems installed around its Temelín nuclear power plant.
Although Temelin confirms with Euratom regulations, Brussels’ radiation department of its energy directorate general said Czech regulator SONS (state office for nuclear safety) should ensure there is full traceability for the transport of environmental samples from Temelín to government laboratories. It also recommended that SONS ensures analysis of liquid discharges from the power plant are improved to “remedy the current overestimations” of radioactivity, and potential underestimations.
Meanwhile, the commission’s investigation team has also made reform recommendations to the national ‘monitoring network for environmental radioactivity’ in neighbouring Slovakia. Here, Brussels experts were checking government environmental health monitoring systems, rather than installations directly linked to nuclear power plants. Resulting recommendations for the Bratislava-based public health authority said it should create an archive for retaining environmental samples from nuclear power plants. As regards the nuclear studies carried out by the Slovak state veterinary and food institute, its environmental monitoring stations should sport “uninterruptible power supply systems”. Also, the regional public health authority at Banska Bystrica should create a back up system for protecting digital copies of its radioactivity test results.
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