Seven out of 17 aging nuclear plants in Germany have been closed for stress tests to address concerns triggered by Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis. The seven power plants, which have been operational since the 1970s and '80s, won't be reactivated until June 2011 at the earliest.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the weighty decision—25 percent of Germany's energy is sourced from nuclear plants—following demonstrations by more than 100,000 anti-nuclear protesters.
Nuclear regulators in the U.S. have been allowing power companies to extend the operating life of serveral aging power plants. A site in Vermont that has been operating since 1973 had its license extended by 20 years just one day before the Japan earthquake (operational expectancy of a nuclear power plant is 30 to 40 years).
Germany's renewable energy lobby, BEE, suggests, "Renewables could be ready to provide 47 percent of German power supply up to 2020" and contends that supply could replace the need for nuclear power.
Some European countries are backtracking on their commitment to nuclear energy, but China and India are pushing forward: Despite sobering events in Japan, China's head of the National Energy Administration, Liu Tienan, sees Japan as a lesson to "guarantee the safe development of our nuclear industry.” Tienan favors expanding China's nuclear power industry to meet the country's growing energy demands.
The former chair of India's Atomic Energy Comission, Anil Kakodar, told legislators, "Other options to generate electricity are not enough. If we don't use nuclear power, we will have to import coal in the future."
Much of America seems to be unconcerned about the dangers of nuclear energy. Do they know that 23 U.S. nuclear plants are of the same design as the one in Fukushima?
Comments