EC tells Austria Temelin is safe

The European Commission has officially informed Austria that safety standards at the Temelin nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia are adequate. The EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs said in a letter to a member of the Austrian Parliament that Temelin's safety standard had been checked by a team of twenty inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency before the plant was put into operation and that no shortcomings were found. Austrian politicians and environmentalists who have been trying to get the plant closed on safety grounds are said to have been surprised and disappointed by the EC's response.