nuclear-news

Countries that should be best equipped to deal with nuclear mishaps are turning away from atomic energy after the meltdown of three reactors in northern Japan on March 11. Europeans, most notably in Germany, and Americans are abandoning or delaying plans to replace or upgrade their electricity-producing nuclear plants — and extending the operational life of existing, less-safe reactors well beyond their original 40-year licensing period.

Germany nonetheless has ordered its 17 nuclear reactors shut down by 2022. Polls in other countries show that there too anti-nuclear sentiment has regained ground that it had lost in recent years

This swing is notable even in countries that depend heavily on nuclear power, such as France, where Socialist Party leaders say they will raise the issue in next year’s presidential elections. In Japan, public approval of adding more nuclear plants stood at 82 percent six years ago. After Fukushima, that number has plunged to 30 percent, according to Japanese newspaper polls.

Industry representatives argued to the experts here that higher safety standards and tighter regulation protect U.S. reactors from a Fukushima-type disaster. No consensus was reached on the reliability of those assertions. Japan made similar claims before Fukushima revealed the deadly weaknesses in its crisis-management abilities and in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s oversight capabilities….

The primary threat of irremediable damage to the planet no longer comes from rocket forces commanded by the Kremlin and the Pentagon but from nuclear bureaucracies in Tehran, Jerusalem, New Delhi, Islamabad and other capitals in the developing world, as well as from terror networks intent on acquiring fissionable material….