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UK and France manage to water down European nuclear safety tests

The UK, with the backing of France and the Czech Republic, managed to have terror attacks excluded from a series of new nuclear safety tests

Europe divided over nuclear power after Fukushima disaster, The Guardian, 25 may 11, UK and France lobby to have safety checks watered down, while Switzerland moves to phase out its nuclear power plants Europe‘s nuclear power faultlines in the wake of the Fukushima disaster were exposed on Wednesday as Switzerland moved to phase out its nuclear power plants and the extent of British and French lobbying to water down nuclear safety checks was revealed.

The UK, with the backing of France and the Czech Republic, managed to have terror attacks excluded from a series of new nuclear safety tests ordered after the Japanese tsunami led to radiation leaks from Fukushima nuclear reactors in March.

The Swiss cabinet called for the decommissioning of the country’s five nuclear power reactors and new energy sources to replace them. The recommendation will be debated in the country’s parliament, with a decision expected in June that could see the reactors go offline between 2019 and 2034.

European regulators struck a deal on “stress tests” of how the EU’s 143 nuclear power plants would withstand natural disasters, but terror attacks were reportedly excluded because of the UK argument that they lie within the purview of national security authorities and not the European commission or national nuclear regulators.

“The reason why we excluded terrorism from the tests was mainly, although not 100%, down to UK resistance,” an EU official said. “The UK authorities argued that there was a difference between safety and security.” The anti-nuclear green pressure group Greenpeace also accused the UK of leading the opposition to including terror attacks in the safety test simulation criteria.

Europe’s divisions over nuclear power have deepened since Fukushima, with Britain and France remaining steadfast supporters, Italy shelving plans to build new plants and Germany taking steps towards a phase-out…….

The commission does not have the legal power to shut down nuclear plants and is depending on citizen pressure once the results are published by the end of April 2012….

Europe divided over nuclear power after Fukushima disaster | Environment | The Guardian

May 26, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, safety