Czech workers at nuclear power plant restarted second reactor

Workers at the nuclear power plant in Temelin near the border with Austria have restarted the facility's second reactor after a four-week shutdown, an official said Wednesday. Plant spokesman Vaclav Brom said the reactor was restarted early Wednesday. The turbogenerator's rotating part was replaced during the unit's shutdown.

The plant's first unit was running at full capacity, Brom said. Construction of the plant's two 1,000-megawatt units, based on Russian designs, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later upgraded with U.S. technology, but have remained controversial because of frequent malfunctions.

Environmentalists in Austria have demanded that the plant, 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of the Austrian border, be closed, but Czech authorities insist it is safe, reports the AP. I.L.