(546.5266) Za Matku Zem - The independent Radiation Monitoring System (RAMOS) has worked succesfully for years near the Czech Dukovany NPP and the Slovak Mochovce NPP. In a ring around these reactors radiation monitoring equipment has been installed by the RAMOS project. A ring surrounding the Czech Bohunice NPP is under construction. RAMOS installed two radiation monitors near the Temelin-1 NPP in January. RAMOS makes it possible to inform local citizens in case of an accident and to compare monitored radiation levels with official data. It is a project of the Austrian NGO Global 2000, in partnership with Slovak Za Matku Zem and Czech Friends of the Earth (Hnuti Duha).
The allegations in the Czech media came on the very day that Global 2000 and its partners were preparing a photography session at Temelin to announce the project to the media. There was no evidence linking Global 2000 to the etalons, nor will the Czech authorities make public any further details of the case, which seems to have been based on an illegal commercial importation unrelated to Global 2000.
The controversy started on 23 February with the publishing of a front page article in the Czech Newspaper Pravo - "Radioactive Materials Secretly in our Country" by Jindrich Ginter. The article names Global 2000 four times in connection to the police investigation. The cheif of SUJB (Czech Republic Nuclear authorities), Dana Drabova, provided the information to Pravo for the article.
The article describes a police investigation of a family living in a house near Tyn nad Vltavou, Czech Republic who were found with an etalon at their home. According to the article, the secret police and investigators office were first alerted to the possible illegal activity when they noticed a "high-quality computer" cross the border into the Czech Republic - one, according to police, "meant for transferring data to Vienna." The investigation apparently led to an etalon being found on the family's property. Another was found in the village of Rouchovany where Abolition 2000 is active and a third with a German man at a Czech border town. Global 2000 was named by Drabova as being behind this illegal importation of radioactive materials.
The next day (24 February) an article from another Czech newspaper CBL ("German illegally imported radioactive material") reported more information on the scandal from Josef Neuzil, Speaker-Director of the Czech Customs Office. The German man found with the etalon was fined 50,000 Czech crown (US$1250) fine on 22 February, the highest possible penalty, and the police confiscated the etalon. Neuzil said that the Czech Secret Police were no longer involved in the investigation. It was reported that Global 2000 denied any involvement with the incident whatsoever.
In a seperate article, Drabova said that she asked police to investigate the crimes further to determine whether the etalons were imported or used by Global 2000. Dravoba said that she strongly suspected Global 2000 of initiating the crime. Despite being in frequent contact with Drabova's office for some time, a Global 2000 representative was not contacted for discussion of the allegations before they were made public.
Meanwhile, the police investigation was winding down. Also on 24 February, the Czech newspaper Blesk reported that customs officers had finished their investigation of the case. They determined that the radioactive materials were imported on 9 January 2001 by a German citizen through the Austrian/Czech border crossing Neunagelberg-Halamky. In his customs declaration, the accused declared them as "computer notebooks."
The result of the police investigation of the three confiscated etalons showed that they were certain to have been imported illegally because these types of etalons can only be handled with authorization from SUJB. The case was given to investigation offices for possible criminal proceedings, but eventually the accused German was charged with just the original fine of 50,000 Czech crowns.
Also on 24 February, according to a follow-up report in Pravo, the German who allegedly tried to import the material said that the etalons were property of an Austrian company -- ELK. During the course of the investigation, the police contacted the company, who denied exporting the material illegally. However a Pravo investigation discovered that on 19 February, an employee of ELK contacted by telephone SUJB and asked them for information on legal importation of etalons.
The Pravo story also printed a Global 2000 denial of involvement (no Global 2000 representative was interviewed for the initial story) and states that, in fact, the Global 2000 organization does not calibrate equipment with etalons or any other radioactive materials. A Global 2000 representative said that it had no contact with the man found with the etalon or the Austrian company he is allegedly connected with.
The organizations involved in the Global 2000 RAMOS project at Temelin are taking these accusations very seriously. The involvement of SUJB, the Czech government nuclear organization in unfairly discrediting citizen watchdog groups is unacceptable, and casts their political neutrality in doubt. It seems very likely that SUJB and the Czech government are actively and unfairly attempting to discredit the anti-nuclear movement.
Through co-operation with Hnuti DUHA (Czech Friends of the Earth, member of Global 2000) an attempt is being made to find out whether the families who were found with the etalons by Czech authorities actually exist, or were inventions of police investigators. The names of the family from Tyna nad Vltavou, the family "Sulova", has been given to Global 2000 by Ginter, the author of the first article in Pravo. No other names were given in the articles. Other investigations in the case revealed no additional information.
Activists feel that the incident of the commercial illegal importation of an etalon was used as an excuse by Czech government to attack the RAMOS project. The government is attempting to scare off local residents from allowing Global 2000 and their partners from using their land to monitor Temelin, out of fear of legal action and fines. Already since the allegations, one family has asked Global 2000 to move the monitoring station on their property to another location. Za Matku Zem, Hnuti DUHA, and Global 2000 will continue to investigate this suspicious series of events that has unfolded in the Czech media.
The RAMOS project can be found at the internet address www.global2000.at/ramos (in German).
Sources:
- Press release Za Matku Zem, 17 March 2001
- Email from Global 2000, 4 April 2001
Contact: Za Matku Zem, PO Box 93, 814 99 Bratislava, Slovakia Tel/fax: +421 7 5296
8059
Email: zmz@changenet.sk
Internet: www.zmz.sk
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