Ethics and Temelin

While in Prague, both Dmitri Medvedev and Barack Obama lobbied Václav Klaus with regard to enlargement of the Temelín nuclear-power plant. Russia presumably wants to remove the threat of being passed over for energy-security reasons, and the Americans want a fair shake in a contest that looks a bit loaded against them from the start. The Russians are already deeply entrenched in the Czech nuclear sector, and the French have the advantage of being the only EU member in the bidding. In this light, Westinghouse looks like the dark horse. Its political and business skills must also be questioned after it was so easily ousted as the fuel-rod supplier to the existing Temelín reactors. Although bad fuel rods were partly to blame, ČEZ's greater motivation seemed to be to bring in the Russians and to speed up the overpriced construction of a new temporary storage facility by companies with unknown owners. Perhaps Temelín is the reason Obama tapped his top ethics adviser to be his ambassador to Prague.