PR:RAWRA continues to conceal information - it earned a negative nomination for the competition “Open x Closed”

=> CZECH version of this press release

Press Release dated June 28, 2016 http://www.calla.cz/index.php?path=hl_stranka/tiskovky/2016&php=tz160628.php

RAWRA continues to conceal information - it earned a negative nomination for the competition “Open x Closed”
'''ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE - Transparency in negotiations declared by Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA) has suffered another blow. After RAWRA Director Jiří Slovák failed with a previous decision in court, he repeatedly provided requested information to Calla only with blackened key parts. Specifically, it concerns the RAWRA Council’s meeting minutes from 2011-2012 and the Report 2010 on financial reserves for decommissioning nuclear facilities (see attached samples of the provided documents). Calla has therefore decided to nominate RAWRA for this year's competition called “Open x Closed” in a category “Closed” .'''

On May 10, 2016, the Prague Municipal Court annulled (on Calla’s appeal) the decision of the RAWRA Director from 2012, as RAWRA did not provide a reason that would entitle it to conceal parts of the requested documents.

According to Calla, the public should be given information, whether financial reserves, which ČEZ lays aside for the future decommissioning of its nuclear power plants, are sufficiently high. Otherwise, tens of billions of CZK would have to be paid by taxpayers in the future.

Also, the meeting minutes of the RAWRA Council, which is also a Public Authorities Control Board overlooking RAWRA and is supposed to supervise economy of expended funds from the state nuclear account, should be accessible as well. As it was demonstrated by recent developments in the case of the Underground Research Facility (URF) Bukov, the decision to invest today's 94 million CZK in the construction - in contradiction with the government's "The Concept of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel in the Czech Republic" - has not been made by the government, but by RAWRA Council in 2013. The initial investments then give rise to other requirements – the costs covered by public funds related to the construction, operation and research in URF by 2030, which according to RAWRA will amount to nearly 1,8 billion CZK.

Edvard Sequens of Calla said: "The siting process for a final Geological Disposal Facility must be highly transparent with regards to the impact on the lives of thousands of people. This also concerns dealing with finances - if the accumulated funds will not be able to cover the project with the planned price of 110 billion CZK, the debt will be a burden on future taxpayers. What is RAWRA hiding so much?"

 More information can be provided by: 
 * Ing. Edvard Sequens, Calla, email: [mailto:edvardDOTsequensATcallaDOTcz edvard DOT sequens AT calla DOT cz], tel.: +420 602 282 399
 * Mgr. Pavel Doucha, Doucha Šikola advokáti Ltd. – Calla's counsel in this dispute, email: [mailto:douchaATdsadvokatiDOTcz doucha AT dsadvokati DOT cz], tel.: +420 608 873 437

Annex:


 * Excerpt from the provided minutes of the 73rd meeting of the RAWRA Council

Notes: