London (Platts)--13Jul2007

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is investigating legal options to
revoke Vattenfall Europe's nuclear reactor accreditation, the state's social
minister, Gitta Trauernicht, said Friday in state parliament.
     Trauernicht, who is responsible for nuclear safety in the state, said
that in the light of the fire at Vattenfall Europe's 1,316-MW nuclear reactor
Krummel on June 28 and several incidents that followed it was open whether
Vattenfall was still a reliable nuclear power plant operator.
     "Our goal is clear: Krummel stays off the grid," Trauernicht said. The
minister said the focus of the legal investigation was on the "course of
action [during the fire], the organization and communication in the control
room of the Krummel reactor."
     Trauernicht said that public safety required the investigation.
     The minister also said: "[I]t is a fact that Vattenfall's information
policy has destroyed public and political trust in its reliability." And she
added: "Talk by Vatttenfall's board of a political campaign against Vattenfall
is scandalous considering the amount of incidents which had to be reported and
the contradictions."
     Krummel was taken off the grid in an emergency shut-down after a fire in
a transformer station on June 28.
     Vattenfall Europe has been criticized by the German government for
"misconduct" in handling the fire and for its information policy after the
incident.
     The federal environment ministry called Vattenfall Europe's conduct of
the matter as having been "totally inadequate."  
     The case is being investigated by the federal environment ministry
and federal parliament's environment commission.
     Vattenfall Europe has defended its information policy, saying it reported
all incidents to the responsible authorities as soon as possible and within
legal time frames.