DISCONNECTION OF TRANSMISSION LINE ENDANGERS POWER SYSTEM - HEP

( Editorial: --> 1037 ) ZAGREB, July 31 (Hina) - The disconnection of a transmission line between the Krsko nuclear plant and Croatia carried out by Slovenia has endangered the security of power supply systems in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as of the Krsko plant itself, Croatia's power supply company HEP said in a statement on Friday. Krsko is a plant jointly owned by Croatia and Slovenia set up in 1981. It is on Slovene territory. Yesterday, Slovenia disconnected one transmission line supplying Croatia with electricity, citing Croatia's unpaid debts as the reason. The statement issued from HEP's managing director's office wishes to warn the Croatian and Slovene public that the claims made by the Krsko leadership and other Slovene representatives, that HEP's irregular payments had endangered the plant's safety and that the fault for the actual situation is Croatia's, are incorrect. The safety of the plant was endangered by the Krsko leadership, the administration of Slovenia's power supply company ELES and the Slovene Ministry of Economy when they disconnected the transmission line between Krsko and Croatia's power supply system, said HEP's statement. This assessment is explained by the fact that the Krsko plant is connected to the power supply network through three 400kW transmission lines. By switching off the double one towards Croatia, which accounts for two thirds of the plant's capacity, the plant was reduced to only one line, leading to Maribor, in northern Slovenia. "This act is directly aimed at the safety of (the Krsko plant), and is contrary to all norms of nuclear safety and safety culture. This is also corroborated by the fact that, according to statements from (the plant's) employees, (the plant) reduced the power to 90 per cent for 'safety reasons'", said HEP's statement. "But, nuclear safety demands call for maximum avoidance of changes to the power of the reactors. In this respect we will request an opinion and intervention of the competent body in Slovenia, the Administration for Nuclear Security, and of the International Agency for Atomic Energy". HEP asserted that Slovenia's incomprehensible and ultimately dangerous act had endangered not only Krsko's safety, but also the stable work of power supply systems in Croatia and Bosnia, which have Slovenia as the sole connection with the Union for the Coordination of the Production and Transmission of Electricity (UCPTE). It is an unprecedented act in European practice, completely contrary to the binding rules of behaviour among UCPTE members, HEP said, adding Slovenia's act also represented a violation of an agreement on cooperation between Croatia's HEP and Slovenia's counterpart ELES. HEP reiterated however that despite the new situation, HEP was regularly supplying with electricity all consumers throughout Croatia and had also undertaken all measures to keep maximum stability of the system in current circumstances. It is ultimately unacceptable to threaten Croatia with isolation from the European network as a way of "extorting Croatia's agreement to a series of one-sided measures and steps" the Slovene side has made over the last five or six years, said the statement. HEP is interested in an urgent resolution concerning the legal ownership status of the Krsko plant through an adequate inter-state contract. HEP also warned that the Slovene side was obstructing any progress in the negotiations by denying the basic fact of HEP's 50 per cent ownership of the plant, its rights and obligations. Backed by the Croatian government, HEP is willing to let European arbitration resolve the dispute, and confirms that it will fully recognise and respect the arbitration results, the statement concluded. (hina) ha 311700 MET jul 98