CZ: Bukov Laboratory - research on geological conditions in an unsuitable location

=> CZECH version of this article ''' The Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA) does not want to make a technical-economic study on the implementation of the research program in the Bukov underground research facility available to the public. Thus, the public can not verify whether the Bukov site, located in the former uranium mines, Dolní Rožínka, the Vysočina Region, is really suitable for research activities for the deep repository. In August 2017, Calla warned about this dodgy behaviour in its press release. '''

State-owned enterprise DIAMO GEAM, which is in charge of remediation after uranium mining, was commissioned by RAWRA to build the Bukov facility. The construction has cost more than 100 million crowns and in December 2016 the government agreed to spend CZK 313 million on construction by the end of 2019 without public tender. The total cost of public funding for construction, operation and research by 2030 is planned to be around CZK 1.8 billion.

With the Bukov facility there is a great deal of doubt as to whether the money is being invested for the right purpose (Calla has been reporting on that since January 2016). Another controversy is that RAWRA is usually presenting the Bukov facility as Bukov URL (Underground Research Laboratory), which is necessary for the selection of the repository. According to the National Programme on Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel Management, the URL should be built only in the final location selected for the deep geological repository. However, the expensive URL Bukov is being built in a geologically inappropriate location for a deep geological repository now, while the siting proces for a deep repository has still not been over yet.

Olga Kališová, Calla (September 3, 2017)