Europe's Nuclear Plant Built In An Earthquake Zone

Nuclear Fallout - Will Austria Attempts To Close Slovakia’s Volatile Nuclear Plant Succeed?

The Austrian/Slovakian border has become the environmental frontline where East meets West in a fight for green priorities.

Still suffering from the aftermath of Chernobyl, Austrians are not prepared to put-up with a new nuclear power plant in neighbouring Slovakia. But for the Slovak’s, the Mochovce nuclear reactor is their ticket to a nation abundant in cheap electricity. They’re not about to give-in to their richer neighbour’s demands. Yet even Slovakian experts are not sure about the station’s safety. Built to an ageing Russian design and located in an earthquake zone few are convinced that the plant is as safe as it should be. In Slovakia though, internal debate is low-key. State-owned TV does not have much air-time for views that undermine the government’s most expensive investment. Austrian politics has become dominated by the Mochovce issue. The anti-nuclear stance plays well here in a nation that actually built a state-of-the-art reactor but never opened it following a national referendum. At the moment it’s complete stalemate: Austria can threaten. Slovakia can defy. But with enhanced political clout Austria has Mochovce firmly on the agenda during their EU presidency.

Follow us on Twitter:

ABC Australia: Ref 476
Journeyman Pictures is your independent source for the world's most powerful films, exploring the burning issues of today. We represent stories from the world's top producers, with brand new content coming in all the time. On our channel you'll find outstanding and controversial journalism covering any global subject you can imagine wanting to know about.

[AAWT]

This is an old report. And though Mohovce is still operated (almost 20 years later), the Austrian tabloid/gutter press has found a new target to constantly complain about: the modern NPP at Temelin, Czech Republic, which meets Western safety standards and is more modern than any of Germany's NPPs. This shows the real reason Austrians are complaining: hysteria (resulting from fear and misinformation, especially spread by the green party), inferiority complexes (Austrians don't even trust themselves to run a NPP safely) and their tendency to look down upon/begrudge Eastern Europeans (if you don't trust yourself to run something safely, how can you trust someone you deem inferior to you). Even if both Temelin and Mohovce were closed down, they wouldn't be happy but instead just find another NPP in one of their neighbouring countries to the East to campaign against.

[ajax]

how old is this???? Meciar? Dzurinda????

[JohnnyFiveEagles]

I do not blame people for worrying about a nuclear plant. I would have problems with it being across the border in Eastern Europe as well. they just do not have the best standards in the world.

[stretchmorgan]

Why doesn't the guy wear his jacket in a less stupid way?