By ÈTK / Published 30 April 2008 Liberec, April 29 (CTK) - The Czech Environment Ministry declared the Kotel municipality near Liberec a protected deposit area in which uranium could be mined, the Prima television station reported Tuesday.
The deposit contains some 20,000 tonnes of uranium ore, worth billions of crowns.
"We consider it the first step towards uranium mining. We don't trust the ministerial officers," Josef Jadrny from the Green Party said.
The Environment Ministry is headed by Greens leader Martin Bursik.
Jadrny has organised protests against declaring the area a protected deposit for some time.
People from local municipalities fear that uranium mining would further harm the environment and force them to move away.
It was Diamo state company that applied that the uranium deposits in the Podjestedi area be protected, Prima reported.
"We do not plan mining at all," Diamo production deputy director Marian Boehm told Prima.
This story is from the Czech News Agency (ÈTK). The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content.
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