09/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Greens want more efficient use of nuclear decommissioning funds. Rebecca Harms, joint leader of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, speaking for her group, welcomed the transparency brought by the European Court of Auditors report, published on 8 February, on the use of Community funds for decommissioning nuclear reactors in Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria (see EUROPE 10549). Harms was particularly pleased that the report had revealed “the enormous hidden costs” of nuclear energy, the €2.85 billion in EU funds for the period from 1999 to 2013 proving insufficient to safely and effectively decommission the plants. According to the Court of Auditors report, a funding shortage of €2.5 billion remains. “It is high time that there was transparency about the full cost of nuclear power. It is naturally of vital importance that all nuclear reactors are properly and safely decommissioned and that sufficient resources are available to this end. However, it is crucial that all EU funds are used in the most effective way”, stressed Harms. (EH/transl.rt)