Nuclear plans put on need-to-know basis

"Nuclear waste to be kept secret," reads the SME headline. Reporting on a 9 March vote in the Slovak parliament that approved a law to "classify" nuclear industry data, the Bratislava daily points out that "people will have no way of knowing if nuclear power stations and storage facilities comply with safety regulations." Opposition MPs and NGOs contacted by SME describe the measure as "unconstitutional and contrary to European legislation." The ruling coalition has offered no explanation for what one political analyst terms "a violation of citizens' fundamental environmental rights." However, the newspaper notes that the issue will likely be raised in an upcoming debate on the construction of the third and fourth phases of the Mochovce power station, and suggests an alternative hypothesis to explain the adoption of the new law: the planned EU nuclear waste storage facility that could be located in Slovakia.