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Vattenfalling

Energy Giant Fires Nuclear Boss

Pressure continues to grow on energy company Vattenfall. And on Monday, the firm announced it was firing Bruno Thomauske, who heads the company's nuclear power businesses in Europe. Meanwhile, authorities are questioning workers who were on duty during last month's fire.

During the first two weeks of July, it seemed that energy giant Vattenfall was doing everything it could to destroy its reputation as a reliable operator of nuclear power plants. In the last two days, it has been doing all it can to reverse that trend.

The Sweden-based company, heavily criticized last week for having played down the seriousness of a late-June fire at its reactor in Krümmel near Hamburg, fired the head of its European nuclear energy operations, Bruno Thomauske, on Monday. In addition, company spokesman Johannes Altmeppen has resigned. Both moves have been widely welcomed by German politicians concerned about the company's apparent cavalier attitude toward recent reactor mishaps.

Still, many emphasized that there is more to be done. In addition to personnel consequences, the company, many have said, needs to make structural changes to ensure that such mishaps are eliminated in the future. Michael Müller, a senior official at Germany's Environment Ministry, told German television that more is expected. "That is the normal reaction, to sacrifice someone. ... But this isn't just about switching personnel," he said. "Most important is reforming concepts. And in that regard I would like to hear a lot more from Vattenfall."

The Green Party also wants the company to do more and has called for a revamp of Vattenfall's safety procedures -- and for the sacking of the two managers responsible for safety, Klaus Rauscher and Lars Göran Josefsson. Greenpeace has called for the Krümmel reactor to be shut down for good.

Slow Cooperation Criticized

The fire broke out in the reactor's transformer on June 28 and the company reported the incident as not having affected the reactor itself -- which later turned out to be untruthful. Miscommunication during the incident likewise led to the plant being shut down. On the same day, an incident at the nearby Brunsbüttel reactor led to that plant being shut down as well. Since then, Vattenfall has proved slow to cooperate with German authorities in clearing up the incidents.

That hesitancy seems to have changed. The company on Monday announced that, in addition to working with the authorities, it was establishing its own group of experienced technicians and scientists to analyze safety and operational procedures. "The recommendations of the working group will be introduced without exception," the company said in a statement. "We want to win back lost trust. We will do everything to eliminate mistakes and mishaps in the future."

Schleswig-Holstein, the state where the two Vattenfall reactors are located, is investigating whether it should withdraw the company's license to operate nuclear reactors. Experts from Germany's nuclear regulatory authority on Monday are interviewing workers at the Krümmel reactor to determine exactly what went wrong at the end of June.

cgh/afp/dpa