Britain tells the rest of Europe not to rush to nuclear judgment
As the Japanese nuclear crisis continues, the British energy minister
has warned European neighbors not to rush to judgment over the future of
nuclear power.
The British energy minister, Chris Huhne, has warned other
European countries not to make decision about nuclear power too quickly
in the light of events in Japan.
He told lawmakers in the British parliament that while Britain would
undertake a safety review which would incorporate potential dangers from
natural disasters, hasty action was not necessary.
In an apparent reference to Swiss and German actions to impose an
moratorium on nuclear power plants and in the case of Germany, to close
down seven aging plants, Huhne said he had asked Britain's chief nuclear
inspector, Mike Weightman, to report if any lessons could be learnt
from events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.
"I thought it was really crucial that we should base any public
debate on reality and on the facts and not on a load of supposition,
which appears to be a risk, not least in some other countries at the
moment," Huhne said during testimony to the House of Commons Energy
Select Committee.
He also drew attention to the fact that the strongest earthquake
suffered by Britain was 130 thousand times weaker than the one which hit
Japan and that Britain had never experienced the terror of a tsunami.
Calls to suspend nuclear activity
However anti-nuclear campaigners have called for Britain to follow
the example of some of its European neighbors and announce a moratorium
on any nuclear plant activity.
 Many of Britain's nuclear plants have been decommissioned orr face closure
The anti-nuclear campaign group CND concedes that Britain is not
likely to be subjected to such terrible natural disasters, but insists
that issues such as climate change and subsequent rising sea levels must
be taken into account. In addition, there was always the possibility of
human error, and the issues surrounding the disposal of toxic nuclear
waste were not going to disappear.
CND head Kate Hudson said nuclear accidents, while infrequent, do
occur from time to time. She said, "Maybe it's a once-in-a-generation
event. You know, it's 25 years from Chernobyl and then some more since
Three Mile Island but no matter how infrequent it is, it does seem to be
something that does occur from time to time, and we do not want anyone
to have to suffer from that and from the terrible consequences of
radiation poisoning."
At least six of Britain's nine nuclear stations are due to be closed
by 2015 and the government hopes that private investors will step in to
replace them with new plants. It says it's concerned that there could be
an energy gap between new plants being built and old ones being
closed.
The British Government wants to attract private investment for up to
ten new-generation plants and government experts are currently studying
two rival designs with a view to getting these projects to the building
stage within the next few years.
Outdated technology
The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was built in the 1960s and was coming to
the end of its operational life. According to Stuart Nathan, features
editor at "The Engineer" magazine, who has been writing about Britain's
nuclear industry for a decade, the technology used in that plant would
be unrecognizable in today's nuclear plants.
"I think it would be only natural for something like Fukishima to
make people more concerned," he told Deutsche Welle, "but the industry
really has changed from the way it was and safety is very much in mind,
particularly with new reactor buildings."
 Modern nuclear power stations are said to be safer than the old onesNathan
added that modern plants, with their pressurized cooling systems and
advanced safety features offer as much reassurance in terms of safety as
a nuclear plant can.
However he does think it likely that events in Japan will lengthen
the UK Government's review of the competing nuclear plant designs.
While Japan's aging Fukushima plant and the advanced generation of
new power stations planned by Britain differ greatly, concerns about the
incident within the British government go beyond the unfolding human
drama.
Huhne admitted to the Energy Committee that the incident may affect
the appetite of private investors for nuclear power. Billions of euros
of private investment will be needed to replace Britain's aging nuclear
power plants.
Author: Catherine Drew, London
Editor: Michael Lawton
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14917647,00.html
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