Global Issues
Cautious Push Ahead for Nuclear Energy
Seeking to calm public opinion about the dangers of nuclear energy, government ministers and other representatives from 33 countries have agreed to carry out safety audits and 'stress tests' on nuclear plants.
The promises came during an 'informal ministerial' meeting here on nuclear safety, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. But officials did not discuss abandoning nuclear energy for other alternatives, according to French ecology minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, who hosted the meeting.
'There has been no discussion on whether there’s a need to abandon nuclear,' she said. 'There was a general, uncontested agreement that nuclear safety is the important issue. And that depends on international cooperation.'
'Stress tests', will 'enable an evaluation' of the safety of countries’ nuclear facilities and test their 'capacity to withstand major incidents', she stated.
France, which this year holds the presidency of the G8 and G20 countries, organised the conference in association with the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The aim was to reach a consensus before further talks in Vienna later this month when the International Atomic Energy Agency has its own meeting.
On Wednesday, officials from nuclear regulatory agencies continued their discussions, seeking to coordinate safety reviews under way, 'draw lessons to apply to all power plants', and to learn from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Paris-based OECD said.
With 58 nuclear plants, France is among the countries that have been under the spotlight following the Japanese tragedy. The country generates some 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors, and the government has defended the national programme. But Kosciusko-Morizet says that there has been a global 'rethinking' of policy.
'We cannot continue to think the way we did before Fukushima,' she stated. 'What we have learned from this disaster, and what we must remember, is that one accident at a nuclear power plant is enough to create grave and irreversible consequences for man and the environment. It is essential to improve co-operation on nuclear safety in the civil sector, on the international level, as it is not yet at its best possible level. It’s the challenge driving this event.'
Unlike Germany and Switzerland, which have announced that they’re abandoning nuclear energy, other countries at the meeting indicated they would continue with nuclear programmes.
India, the world’s second most populous country, said it had little choice but to continue expanding in the nuclear sector to meet its energy needs.
Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, told IPS that the country was 'reassessing safety' but that India has had a 'good record' for more than 35 years.
'Our energy demands are very large, with growth of more than 10 percent a year, and these demands need to be met,' he said.
He told IPS that India was paying 'equal attention' to solar energy but that this was not enough to cover the energy requirements of a population of 1.2 billion.
Ironically, India has been exporting large numbers of photovoltaic panels to Africa, and Banerjee said that officials expected a growth in that area as African governments focus more on green business.
But India, meanwhile, has been criticised for corruption in the nuclear sector, with allegations of bribery to achieve less stringent safety legislation in the building of nuclear plants. Asked about this, Banerjee said that he could not comment on this issue as he was 'not a politician'.
He said that the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, a joint India-France venture that would be the largest nuclear power generating station in the world, would go ahead because the high elevation was a 'natural advantage'. The location is in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
With the varied approaches to nuclear energy, many civil groups have been calling for more transparency and better policies.
'While France tries to save its atomic industry by organising international meetings, Germany has presented its plan to leave nuclear,' said environment group Greenpeace on Tuesday.
'This shows that it is possible to go to a modern and renewable energy system, with less carbon emissions,' the group added, pointing out that Germany has announced a 40 percent reduction by 2020 (in relation to 1990 levels) and even a reduction of 95 percent by 2050.
Greenpeace called France a 'has been' in the energy field, saying the country could 'find nothing better to do than to trot out old recipes in the hope of seducing the world' with its nuclear programme.
'Once again when it’s a question of nuclear energy, it is self-promotion that is at the meeting, not open dialogue and independent expertise,' Greenpeace said. 'This meeting, initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy in the framework of the G8, is organised only to promote the nuclear industry in a post-Fukushima world.'
Japan, also present at the meeting, said it was doing everything to be transparent as possible.
Hideichi Okada, Japan’s deputy minister for international affairs at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said that the country was 'disseminating information as quickly as it gets it.'
'We’re still working hard to get accurate information,' he told IPS. 'We’re trying to collect information as soon as possible and trying to be as transparent as possible.'
Earlier this week, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced that radioactive emissions from the Fukushima plant might have been double a previous estimate.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service