Europe Faces Backlash After Explosions at Japanese Nuclear Plants

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe's nuclear renaissance could be in trouble if the situation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant worsens. A second explosion occurred at Unit 3 of the plant early Monday, following an explosion at Unit 1 on Saturday.

The explosions, which were triggered by the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit the northern Japan last Friday, have raised the issue of nuclear power safety in many European countries. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has reported that the reactor's containment has not been damaged and that the radiation leaked is of a very low level.

Government officials in a number of European countries that adopted new nuclear building programmes or reversed anti-nuclear legislation have defended their nuclear plans following the disaster. In most cases, a nuclear safety review has been proposed.

"We don't have any type of reactor that is involved in this particular incident, in the U.K., nor are we proposing that it should be part of any new nuclear programme," said U.K. Energy Minister Chris Huhne. "In addition, of course, there is a very big difference in that we're, frankly, amazingly lucky that we don't live in a seismically active earthquake zone like Japan."

In October last year, the U.K. government gave the go-ahead to eight of 11 locations for new nuclear power stations, as well as preliminary approval to the reactor designs of Areva S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris) and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Monroeville, Pennsylvania). For additional information, see October 21, 2010, article - U.K. Approves Eight Nuclear Power Plant Locations.

"I'm asking our own nuclear regulator, or safety authorities, to look very carefully at the Japanese experience, to learn any lessons that we can--both for our own existing nuclear reactions and for any new nuclear programme, because safety is absolutely the number one priority for us in all our energy sources, and that has to be the case with this one as well," Huhne said. "We have to learn the lessons from what has gone on in Japan and make sure we take them on board."

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel faced a massive political and public outcry against nuclear power over the weekend. Last November, her government pushed through legislation to extend the lives of the country's nuclear power plants for up to 14 years. For additional information, see November 2, 2010, article - German Parliament Backs Extending Lives of Nuclear Power Plants.

"We know how safe our plants are and that we do not face a threat from such a serious earthquake or violent tidal wave," Merkel said over the weekend. "We will learn what we can from the events in Japan, and in the coming days and weeks will follow closely what the analysis yields."

In Italy, the government's plan to begin building the country's first nuclear power plants is being left in the hands of a public referendum, which will take place between April 15 and June 15. The events in Japan are expected to have some impact on the outcome. For additional information, see February 3, 2011, article -Italy's Nuclear Future to be Determined by Voter Referendum.

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