"Milos Zeman and his government have to realize, that they are the ones that carry the responsibility for the lives and health of people in the case of an accident in Temelín," said the director of the Czech Greenpeace office, Jiri Tutter, and he added that exactly now the government should act and prevent activation of Temelín. "The government needs to take its responsibility and start an inquiry into the problems with safety that came to the surface over the last weeks," stressed Tutter.

The organization Greenpeace already more than two months draws the attention to several technical irregularities and problems that could endanger the safe operation of Temelín and in the most extreme case could lead to a real accident. The State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) and Temelín owner CEZ reacted both on Greenpeace by trying to minimize the allegations by stating that these were already known, old or already solved problems. Greenpeace already filed a legal complaint for alleged falsification of documents related to the safety.

Until this time, the Czech government shifted the responsibility for the safety of Temelín to other institutions, like for instance CEZ or the State Office for Nuclear Safety. The government, however, carries the main responsibility for the following areas:

* The Government is responsible for the management of CEZ, the owner of Temelín. The Czech State is majority shareholder of CEZ and the Ministry of Industry and Trade as caretaker is therefore responsible for all that CEZ is doing.

* The Government is responsible for the safety level of Temelín. The State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB), which is the highest institution dealing with nuclear safety, falls directly under the Government. * The Government is responsible for the public health. When the government cannot secure Temelín's safety, this can have catastrophic consequences for the health of the whole Czech population and indeed all of Europe. The Government therefore should use all its legal ways to secure that all safety problems around Temelín are addressed before Temelín starts up. * The Government is responsible for a healthy environment. An accident in Temelín can have devastating ecological consequences. Greenpeace therefore calls on the government to finish a complete Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before Temelín is activated. * The Government is responsible for a sustainable energy provision for the Czech Republic. So far, the government has not been able to develop a sustainable energy policy but continued to follow the lines of the past. Temelín is part of an outdated view on energy policy. Greenpeace calls on the Government to acknowledge this and start to develop a future oriented sustainable policy, following countries like Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria and the Scandinavian countries. * The Government is responsible for a legal state. Greenpeace has indications that during the building and testing of Temelín rules have been broken. Greenpeace calls on the Government to secure that such irregularities will not be turned under the carpet. * The Government is responsible for a democratic development of this country. Over the last years, citizens with genuine concerns around Temelín were on several occasions intimidated. Recent examples include non-proportional police force during a Greenpeace protest on 13 July, a liable threat by CEZ against Greenpeace for 5 million Czech Crowns last week and the refusal of entry into the Czech Republic today of three Austrian Greenpeace members. Greenpeace calls on the Government to secure, that citizens and their organizations can use their rights to speak out concerns freely without intimidation from the side of the State or industry.

"It cannot be, that a Government stands on the sideline when here are sincere concerns on the safety of Temelín. The government should stop the process of activation of Temelín now, before it is too late," Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace's Temelín project co-ordinator, adds.