For immediate release
Photos available on request.

ANTI-NUCLEAR DIRECT ACTION CAMP
At Temelin Nuclear power plant, Czech Republic
July 6th - July 14th 1997

AN INVITATION FOR ALL ANTI NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS!

Since the catastrophy at Chernobyl in 1986, the western nuclear industry had many problems in continuing its work. Due to public opposition and financial problems no more new nuclear power plants(NPP) have been build in western Europe (with France as a glowing exception) nor have new NPP's been ordered in the United States. Thus the nuclear industry lost its market.

Not a surprise that they started to search for a new market and thought to have found this in eastern Europe.

Temelin NPP is a prime example of the western nuclear industry's expansion in the East; Situated 150 km from Prague, it is an unfinished VVER 1000/320, built and abandoned by the Soviets. Now CEZ (Czech electricity utility) and Westinghouse (an American multinational) are completing this unneeded NPP. The American government (through the Export-Import Bank, and thus tax-payers money) has just decided to grant Westinghouse a loan guarantee, despite high levels of public opposition.

The mix of western and eastern technology is new and not tested on safety. Besides that the capacity to be created by the new NPP is unneeded. CEZ has run a campaign the last years to promote electrical heating. By severely subsidising the electricity prices and selling and installing the heaters nearly for free, they have created an electricity demand even higher than the proposed capacity for Temelin.

In the mean time the government has, due to the costs-overrrun of Temelin, no money left over to make the existing brown coal plants more ecological sound i.e. filtersystems). Thus the brown coal plants are heavily polluting big areas of the Czech Republic and even Germany, affecting peoples health, life expectation and even birth rates.

Hnuti DUHA (Friends of the Earth - Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) has been running a campaign to stop the the construction of Temelin for over 4 years now. Using the wide range of methods from lobbying and direct actions to creating energy efficiency brigades and promoting renewable energy, from actions on the cooling towers to the totale blockade of the plant...nearly all tactics have been used. Now they have come to the point that international support is crucial.

For the last three summers Hnuti DUHA has organised non-violent blockades of the construction site. Every year the actions grew bigger and better and the enormous media attention made the Temelin case to one of the hottest Czech themes.

Last year 500 activists blocked the whole site (11 entries!!!) for over 3 days.

This year we want to RECLAIM the Temelin construction site!!

There will be theatre groups, concerts, bonfires, climbing courses on the cooling towers, organic vegetarian food (Rampenplan!!),many varieties of non-violent direct actions and more..But: We need YOUR help.

What can you do?

*Put july 6th-14th in your agenda and come over!

*Spread this article in your own network.

If you want to be more involved in organising these actions, please contact the PIANO (Prague International Anti Nuclear Office) office.

If you send us your address, we will send you the Temelin Action Handbook with more thorough background information and practical stuff as well.

We still need a lot of help and welcome all volunteer! We would also be very happy if you would organise similar protests at nuclear sites in Germany! If we organise our actions at the same time we can help out with international media coverage.

In a separat cadre:

A similar evil NPP construction is happening in Slovakia, where $IEMENS is constructing the Mochovce NPP (in an earthquake zone!!!) and doing the same experimental mix of east and west technology. The Slovaks are not ready to have international activists on their actions in the second week of july. This is mainly because their media reacts very negative on foreigners protesting in Slovakia. But they can use your help!!

The German government has decided to give a Hermes loan guarantee and the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau is a big financer for this dangerous project.

This is German taxmoney!!!
Please boycott Siemens products, like Siemens Nixdorf computers, Bosch tools, Osram lightbulbs, Siemens kitchen equipment etc..

Send lettters of protest to Siemens International:
Dr. Karl Hermann Baumann Hd. Guenther Wilhelm Wittelbacherplatz 2 80333 Munchen Germany For a sample letter contact Za Matku Zem (For Mother Earth Slovakia) zamatkuzem@seps.sanet.sk, visit the website of Global 2000: http://www.t0.or.at/~global 2000 or contact iemens-boykott@t-online.de

See you in Temelin!!!

For a nuclear free world!!!!

Krista van Velzen