Acid leak at Czech nuclear power plant
Up to 200 litres of nitric acid leaked at the Czech Republic’s troubled nuclear power plant in Temelin, an official said today.
Plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said that between 100 and 200 litres of the acid had leaked from a pipeline on the premises of the plant, contaminating some 12 square metres of soil.
Firefighters immediately neutralised the acid, Nebesar said. The accident posed no threat to nuclear security and both units of the plant were working at full capacity, he added.
Construction of the plant’s two 1,000-megawatt units, based on Russian design, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later upgraded with US technology, but they have remained controversial because of frequent malfunctions. The station, 35 miles north of the Austrian border, has been a source of friction between the two countries. Environmentalists in Austria demand it be closed, while Czech authorities insist it is safe.
