Europe considers its nuclear future

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

A top-level European forum on the risks and benefits of nuclear energy has heard repeated calls for harmonised standards for the 150 nuclear power reactors across the group of 27 nations.

 

The European Nuclear Energy Forum (Enef) is the product of an initiative of the March 2007 European Council meeting. It held its second biannual meeting in the Czech capital, Prague, on 22-23 May immediately after Czech politicians voiced their support for an expansion of nuclear energy. According to the president of the European Commission, José Manual Barroso, who opened the meeting, Enef is "designed to respond to an urgent need."

 

"A need to an open debate without taboos, without too many preconceived ideas, amongst all the relevant actors, on nuclear energy in Europe. A debate on the opportunities, but also the risks. A debate on the costs, but also on the benefits. A debate on the future of the industry."

 

Barroso was joined by energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs as well as the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania - Mirek Topolanek, Robert Fico and Gediminas Kirkilas respectively.

The forum is meant to facilitate debate between politicians, financiers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), top executives and experts from the industry as well as the chairs of Enef's three working groups on nuclear energy. The 200 invited delegates heard Barroso call for closer cooperation between the 27 EU states under the Euratom treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said: "Perhaps we can go further, to develop in the EU an even more advanced framework for nuclear energy meeting the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation."

 

Reiterating EU desires to consolidate nuclear safety rules he said, "Europe could become a real model if it succeeds in adopting a common legal framework on nuclear safety and waste management." One agenda item for Enef was "the need for a legal roadmap accompanying the responsible use of nuclear energy," according to an EU statement.

 

Some industry leaders supported Barroso's aims, concluding that harmonising safety requirements for new nuclear plants would reduce duplication of effort and lower barriers to competition for the energy source. Other practical topics under discussion were measures to ensure a sufficient supply of workers for new nuclear and details of financing the construction of new reactors.

 

Two NGOs attending Enef, which claimed to be the only representatives of civil society, were Greenpeace and Friends of The Earth. The groups complained that Enef amounted to little more than a trade fair for nuclear power, and Greenpeace decided to project anti-nuclear slogans on conference venues such as Prague Castle and a riverboat hosting an official dinner.