Strasbourg, 05/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the debate, to be followed by a European Parliament (EP) resolution, on the lessons to be drawn from the nuclear incident which is still on-going at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station following the tsunami which struck Japan on 11 March, the leaders of the political groups, on Tuesday 5 April, gave the press a foretaste of what each will argue on the future of nuclear power in Europe.
The leader of the Socialist and Democrat (S&D) Group, Martin Schulz, came out in favour of phasing out nuclear power, while, at the same time, calling for increased security in the power plants which are currently in operation. “As I see it, the European Commission has to recognise that the nuclear era is coming to an end. I fully understand that we will not be able to get rid of nuclear power overnight. But we have to ensure that, by using other forms of energy, such as solar power, and putting greater emphasis on energy efficiency to reduce needs, we can begin to disengage ourselves”, said the German MEP, noting that he had “always been against” atomic power, “even though it is perfectly possible to argue for responsible use of nuclear power for civilian purposes”. Schulz also highlighted the need for investment in research and development (R&D) to increase the security of nuclear power plants which are still feeding into the grid. The S&D Group draft resolution calls on the EU and member states to prepare a strategy for bringing an end to nuclear energy in the medium to long term.
The leader of the Liberals (ALDE), Guy Verhofstadt, said that his group had agreed on Monday to call for a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants, while awaiting the results of the stress tests to which the 143 nuclear power stations operating in the EU will be put before the end of the year, in line with the call from the European Council of 25 March.
For the Conservatives (EPP), Corien Wortmann-Kool confirmed that her group was still in favour of nuclear power. “It is essential”, the Dutch MEP argued, highlighting, however, that “safety standards have to be reviewed”. “The pictures we see every day do not help build people's confidence”, she added, calling for the stress tests to be rigorous. These tests, she added, had to be carried out independently and consistently, under the supervision of the Commission, with results being revealed transparently. If an existing power station or one under construction fails the stress test, there had to be provision for temporary suspension or closure for the former and cessation of planning for the matter, she stated.
Green joint leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit restricted himself to saying that “the best nuclear safety is no nuclear”, as atomic energy could not have “zero risk”, while his colleague Rebecca Harms gave a worrying list of accidents that had taken place over the last 30 years in EU power stations where, as in Japan, the reactor core came close to meltdown. (E.H./transl.rt)