SUJB has been refusing to release even the reference number of the protocol and insists that such an inspection has not been carried out in spite of its own previous reports on this inspection to the government. Also, the police has re-opened the investigation of the case after Greenpeace revealed that somebody from the management of SUJB or CEZ has led police experts to analyse a different welding seam than the one indicated over a year ago by a witness of the repair. The witness had described how the already completed pipe was found positioned up side down. Then the welding seam was cut off, the pipe repositioned and re-welded again. A complete project must be prepared for such a repair, experts from the designer's office must be present as well as the manufacturer of the pipe must be consulted, approval by SUJB issued and the whole repair must be thoroughly surveyed. Nothing of that happened and no one knows whether the repair was carried out in compliance with the technological prescriptions. If not, as also indicated by the findings of SUJB's inspection, it could lead to undesirable inner tensions which combined with the unknown quality of the welding seam may lead to a complete rip-off of the pipe.

Upon Greenpeace's demands, vice-president of the SUJB Karel Böhm ordered the inspection of the documentation of the respective welding seams on 12 December 2000. He later replied in a letter to Greenpeace to questions on the findings that " documentation was not presented in a complete form… showed factual as well as formal errors… the work sequences were not in compliance with the technological prescriptions for the welding of the pipe to the reactor vessel… a representative of the assembly company, ing. Slach has repeatedly refused to release the drawing as well as its number"

SUJB reported the results of this inspection also to the government in its regular Situation Report on Nuclear Safety of Temelin. SUJB originally refused to release the complete final inspection protocol to Greenpeace claiming that it had not received the approval from the controlled bodies. Later, Dana Drabova, chairwoman of SUJB, even denied the existence of any inspection as well as the protocol itself.

"The management of SUJB is clearly trying to hide something very serious. It sinks into more and more lies about what must have happened in the nuclear part of Temelin. On 4 October 2001 Drabova told us during a meeting between SUJB and Greenpeace that at that moment she could not tell us the reference number off the protocol. Today, the protocol reportedly does not exist at all," informed Jiri Tutter, director of Greenpeace in the Czech Republic and added that Greenpeace will do its best to bring the truth to light in order to let the public know who plays with its nuclear safety.

Further information:

Jan Haverkamp, campaign director , Greenpeace CZ, tel. ++420 2 24319667, 24320448 mobile ++420 0603 569 243

Notes for the Editor:

1. SUJB's letter to Greenpeace ref.no. 707/TO/01 of January 9, 2001

2. See Situacni zprava o hodnoceni jaderne bezpecnosti stavby jafderne elektrarny Temelin (Situation report of the nuclear safety of Temelin nuclear power plant)
http://www.sujb.cz/Temelín/4-2000.htm
http://www.sujb.cz/Temelín/1-2001.htm
http://www.sujb.cz/Temelín/2-2001.htm