Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Green party at the European Parliament has flagged up the weak points of the stress tests and criticised the continuing massive investments in nuclear power.
Three years on from the double natural disaster - an earthquake and tsunami - which hit Japan and caused the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl at the Fukushima Daichi powerstation, Green parties across Europe on Tuesday paid tribute to the memory of the victims and called for the EU to abandon nuclear power. “Nuclear energy is expensive and highly risky and Greens will continue to fight against it. People voting Green in the next European elections in May can be sure what they get: a clear 'no' to nuclear and a big 'yes' to energy saving and renewables”, the Greens/EFA Group explained in a press release issued on 11 March.
“Europe still has to learn its lessons from Fukushima. Although the catastrophe demonstrated once more that nuclear energy is highly risky, the EU is still investing €15 billion in further developing nuclear energy in Europe. It is unacceptable that three years after Fukushima the nuclear industry in Europe can still continue with their business-as-usual approach. Toothless stress tests for nuclear power plants and a weak directive on nuclear safety as proposed last year by the European Commission will do nothing to completely rule out a nuclear catastrophe. We can only ensure that there will be no more disasters by finally abandoning this high-risk technology”, insisted the German MEP Ska Keller.
The French MEP José Bové reiterated the commitment of the Greens to developing skills to decontaminate and dismantle nuclear technology, to help countries deciding to abandon the technology. “In the year following the disaster, Japan managed to reduce its energy consumption by 17%. The EU needs to reduce its energy consumption by 40% over the next 15 years. The EU needs to reduce its energy consumption by fighting waste, promoting energy efficiency and developing renewables”, he insisted.
On the sidelines of the plenary session of the Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the Greens invited the last man living in the prohibited zone around the Fukushima powerstation, Naoto Matsumura - a farmer who stayed in the area to look after abandoned animals - to testify as to the devastating effects of the disaster. (EH)