Renew On Line (UK) 27

Extracts from the July-Aug 2000 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

12. Phasing Out Nuclear

Most of Europe is in the process of phasing out nuclear power, with new plants being banned and old plants being decommisioned. For some countries, like Denmark, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Sweden, the decision to back away from nuclear was taken long ago - in many cases in the wake of the Chernobyl accident. But subsequently, following the election of left-centre governments of various types, they have been joined by the UK (with a policy of ‘diminishing reliance’ as plants retire and are not replaced) and Germany ( a complete phase out by 2032 now agreed - it was initially to be by 2016). Even France has got the bug, with a moratorium on new nuclear projects and the shut down of the troubled Superphoenix Fast Breeder. Belgium also now has a phase out policy, as does the Netherlands. Norway, Switzerland and Ireland have also all now adopted anti-nuclear policies.

All of which means that, with Australia still anti-nuclear, almost all of the countries within the OECD have now moved away from nuclear power - leaving only Japan and Canada still formally pro-nuclear. Of course, that still leaves the ex-Soviet states, many of whom, given the shortage of cash for replacement projects, have little alternative to keeping their old nuclear plants going. Indeed, with winter demand for power looming, one the the reactors at the Chernobyl site was restarted last year. In 1990, Poland decided to discontinued construction of a new power plant and impose a 20 year moratorium on nuclear projects, and there have been major campaigns against other nuclear projects in other ex Soviet countries but, nevertheless, there is still support for new nuclear plants. There is also support for new nuclear plants in Asia, notably from Korea, and Vietnam and China, who seem to want to follow Japan down the nuclear road.