Mailbox

Temelín nuclear power plant
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This week in Mailbox: Nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic; the whereabouts of Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler at the end of WWII; Radio Prague’s One on One jingle. Listeners quoted: Sanusi Isah, Colm J. Lowery, Warren Lambing, Tony Horava.

Temelín nuclear power plant
Hello and welcome to Mailbox, the programme that airs your views and answers your questions.

Let’s start off with an e-mail from our regular listener Sanusi Isah from Nigeria. He would like to know how many nuclear power plants there are in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic has two nuclear power plants: Dukovany in South Moravia whose four units went into operation between 1985 and 1987. The other one is Temelín in South Bohemia which went into commercial operation in 2002-2003 many years after its construction began in 1987. The plant has been subjected to much criticism mainly from the Czech Republic’s fiercely anti-nuclear neighbour Austria and has almost never disappeared from the headlines in the past decade.

Mr Colm J. Lowery from the county of Derry in Northern Ireland has turned to Radio Prague with this appeal:

Hans Kammler,  photo: http://grayfalcon.us
“I am an author researching for a book about the last few weeks of World War Two. The area I am looking for information on is Prague and the uprising and retreat of the German army from Prague. I am very interested to hear from anyone who has any information on a German General - Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler - who was reportedly in the vicinity of Prague in early May 1945. I am appealing for witness accounts, statements and or any pictures which confirm he was in Prague during that period.”

As this programme is only broadcast outside the Czech Republic it is not very likely that it will reach the right audience. Nevertheless if any of our listeners who lived in Prague at that time have any information that might help Dr Lowery, please contact us here at Radio Prague and we will forward your messages.

We are always happy to receive your reception reports: they help our technical staff and give us an idea where in the world people tune in to our broadcasts. It is even better if you include a short note on the content of the programme you heard, just like Warren Lambing who listens to Radio Prague in New York.

“A segment which caught my attention was the two Americans, who stayed past the 90 days granted without a visa, then got arrested and still refused to leave. Then they were sentenced to jail time and now they are asking for asylum. Wow, I have never been to the Czech Republic, but that report has me interested, either it is an incredible country, or these guys are a little off, perhaps both of the above statements apply.”

Věra Čáslavská  (1942) Czech gymnast. She won three gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 and four gold medals at the 1968 games in Mexico. | Photo: ČTK
Thank you for that and please keep those reception reports coming – they are essential for us if we are to improve the technical quality of the broadcasts. We have interesting collections of QSL cards to send you in return. Also, if you have any comments as to the content of our broadcast, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. Every single message is read – even though we cannot reply to all of them individually. Now, regular listeners to Mailbox will find this question from Tony Horava from Ottawa familiar.

“I listen to your show in Canada and enjoy it very much. You play a theme song at the end of each show, and there is one that you play regularly - it has a synthesizer sound, flute, and an urban feel. Can you tell me the name and composer of the piece?”

This must be the most frequent question we get here at Radio Prague. If you have heard the answer many times, please forgive me. The song that seems to be so popular with our listeners is "Crowns" by Money Mark and the tune is from his 1998 album "Push the Button." Money Mark or Mark Ramos-Nishita is also known for collaborating with the Beastie Boys. We play the tune to begin and end our Monday interview programme One on One which you can hear again on Saturdays.


As we are running out of time, here’s our February competition question for one last time:

Our February mystery woman was a member of an old Bohemian noble family. She was born in 1868 and in 1900 she married a man of a higher social status than hers. Fourteen years later the tragic death of the couple triggered World War I.

You have until next Friday to send us your answers. As every month four of you will receive small gifts courtesy of Radio Prague for your correct answers. The address is: [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague, Czech Republic. Thank you for all you e-mails and please, keep them coming. Until next week, bye-bye.