Brussels, 22/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in emergency session on Monday 21 March to discuss the impact of the nuclear crisis in Japan, European energy ministers agreed to prepare a common format for the tests to see how well the 143 nuclear reactors in operation in the EU might resist various kinds of threats. While all agreed on the need for the safety level to be as high as possible, ministers did not conceal the differences in viewpoint on the nuclear issue among member states, only 14 of which use atomic energy. It will be for the European Council to decide on the next steps for the stress tests.
On Monday, ministers agreed on the key points: that the highest possible nuclear safety standards must be guaranteed in the EU, and that there has to be as much transparency as possible, resumed Hungarian minister Tamas Fellegi. Confirming the agreement in principle reached by member states, national nuclear safety authorities and the industry on 15 March, energy ministers agreed to carry out an analysis, before the end of 2011, of the risks that European atomic reactors could potentially face, Fellegi said. ENSREG, the national nuclear safety regulators group, along with the European Commission, will determine the technical arrangements for the stress tests in the light of the events in Japan. According to Fellegi, on Monday, the Council noted the characteristic differences to be taken into account: areas subject to earthquake, flooding, tidal waves, the age and design of the reactors, the cooling systems, back-up generators and the human element. The risks will be assessed for current power stations and also for the design of future power stations, and preparation of the tests will be based on the work of international bodies, including of the Western European National Regulators' Association (WENRA).
On Monday, however, the member states were unable to conceal their divisions. When French minister Eric Besson suggested adopting tests on the basis of the third generation safety standards adopted by WENRA in November, which could rest on four criteria (risk from flooding, risk from earthquake, risk related to the loss of cooling and measures to restrict the impact of a serious accident), Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger called for the criteria to be extended to risks that have not so far been considered, such as a plane crash or terrorist attack. In a demonstration of the discord in the EU, Austrian Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner regretted that, for the moment, there is no single line on the criteria for the stress tests. His German opposite number Rainer Brüderle demanded that these “optional” tests become “compulsory”, admitting that he harboured doubts over whether all member states were as strict and responsible as Germany. “Theoretically, any member state can decide not to take part. But I cannot see how this could be justified in the light of pubic confidence”, Fellegi said. Regretting that power stations had been built in Russia and Belarus which “fail to conform to international standards”, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Andronius Azubalis called for the stress tests not just to be for the EU. Oettinger may wish the test to be carried out in Turkey, Ukraine and Switzerland, but Swiss Chancellor Doris Leuthard decided on Friday that the five Swiss nuclear power stations would not be involved in the tests. There is also the problem of what will happen to any power station which fails the tests. Since nuclear safety is a matter for national governments, Fellegi acknowledged on Monday that he was “unable to give a definite technical answer to that question”. (E.H./transl.rt)