(February 9, 1990) The MAPE uranium mill at Mydlovary near Ceske Budejovice has been the cause of severe radioactive pollution dating from the early 1960's.
(326-327.3258) WISE Amsterdam - Up to 80% of the cattle grazing in the neighborhood of the facility died in 1962/63 from leukemia or deformities because of an accident which took place in the early 1960's that has been kept secret until now, as well as because of "normal operation" of the plant. The only counteraction authorities took at that time of the accident was to close down a drinking-water well (without informing the local populace of the real reason). Another spill occurred at the same site in 1964, and several cases of malfunctions occurred following that spill as well. News of the second accident was made public on 24 January in an interview with Ing. Jaroslav Ruzicka from the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Agriculture in a Prague newspaper, Miada Fronta, just two days after Greenpeace released information on the first accident.
The catastrophic situation created by the first accident was only discovered after the increases in the cases of leukemia and mutations were monitored with cows in the vicinity of the plant. (The area surrounding MAPE is used intensively for agriculture and livestock breeding, mainly cattle, geese, fish and hop for the famous Budweiser beer.) In 1962/63 officials from the regional slaughter-house commissioned veterinarians from the Veterinarian Institute in Budejovice to find out the reason for the sudden increase of leukemia and mutations. The results showed clearly that only the radioactive contamination from MAPE could be responsible. Documentation of the investigations was immediately declared top secret.
Pollution continued during the succeeding decades, through "normal operation" of the mill: Between 1965 and 1985 radioactive waste water of the mill was released directly into the Vlatava-river via a 20 km underground canal. Since 1985 radioactive tailings and waste waters have been released into former open-pit coal mines right next to the mill. Greenpeace, which is demanding an investigation of the situation and is conducting an information campaign in surrounding cities and villages, has received official analyses from the Czech Institute for Hygiene between the years 1979-81: the eight control points located in a circle of eight km around the mill show significantly increased results of radioactivity. Sole countermeasure taken: the four control points that monitored the highest results were closed down.
Since mid-1989 the MAPE uranium mill has also treated the uranium ore from the West German Menzenschwand uranium mine. This deal was made after the closure of the only West German uranium mill at Eliweiler, for excess radon releases. Questions raised by the Greens in the West German Parliament on radiation standards of the Czech uranium mill were answered by the federal German government with the statement that it supposes the Czechoslovakian government was observing international standards...
Sources:
- Peter Diehl (FRG)
- Greenpeace (via GreenNet, gp.press, topic 304, 26 Jan. 1990 and gn. nuclear, topic 205, 21 Jan. 1990).
Contact: Florian Faber, Greenpeace Austria, Auenbruggerstr.2, A-1030 Wien, tel: +43-222-7130031-0, fax: +43-222-7130030
Peter Diehl, Schulstr.13, D-7881 Herrischried, FRG, tel + fax: +49-7764-1034.