Agency confirms passage through Poland of nuclear shipment to Czech plant

A second shipment of nuclear fuel bound for the Czech Republic's controversial Temelin power plant was yesterday passing through western Poland, the National Atomic Energy Agency said. The shipment was unloaded in the Baltic port of Szczecin in the morning and moved by rail under tight security through western Poland. "The second shipment of nuclear fuel bound for Temelin is currently moving by rail towards the Czech border and it should leave Poland before tomorrow," the agency's deputy head, Witold Lada, told Reuters. He said the shipment would be the last to be carried this year by Polish State Railways (PKP) under a license granted by the agency, but did not rule out the possibility of more shipments next year. The first US shipment of 23 tons of uranium oxide rods, which passed through Poland in April en route for Temelin, triggered protests by anti-nuclear activists. Temelin is a Soviet-designed plant in the south of the Czech Republic. Its closure has been demanded by neighboring Austria, citing safety concerns. (Reuters)