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Merkel: EU Agrees to Carry Out Nuclear Stress-Tests

26 March 2011 02:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. European Union leaders at a summit here Friday agreed to carry out continent-wide stress-tests for nuclear plants until the end of the year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, APA reports quoting â€œThe Wall Street Journalâ€.
But the EU didn’t outline enforceable consequences for any plant found to unsafe, reflecting worries among some EU members that the strict stress-tests, prompted by the nuclear crisis at Japan’s Fukushima plant, would force them into pricey upgrades of their nuclear installations.
The European Commission will develop the tests, which will be carried out by national safety authorities. The results will be made public by the end of 2011, and will include recommendations for subsequent measures to boost safety. EU government leaders then will review and evaluate the commission’s report, Mrs. Merkel said.
"We’ve drawn the lesson from the Japanese accidents at Fukushima to carry out unanimous stress tests," Mrs. Merkel said.
She stressed that nuclear safety needs to be dealt with at a European and international level, and not just by national authorities.
However, EU leaders didn’t spell out what would happen if a nuclear plant is declared unfit for operation following a test. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann Thursday said such stress tests only make sense if plants were switched off if reviews on them turn out to be negative.
Mrs. Merkel said shutting nuclear power stations is one option, but their safety facilities could also be upgraded instead. She acknowledged that no final conclusion on the issue has been taken.
"It’s only been said that if there are weaknesses, then we need to act," Mrs. Merkel said. "It will be made public, and from that the corresponding discussion will arise."
Eastern European countries that have nuclear reactors may balk at expensive upgrades of their nuclear installations if they were deemed to be unfit to withstand stringent safety reviews. These countries had already upgraded their nuclear installations after joining the EU to approach Western European safety standards.
Some Eastern European countries, which are keen to become less dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies, also plan to increase their nuclear capacity.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk Wednesday rejected a German call on Poland to cancel the planned construction of nuclear power plants. Poland plans to build two nuclear power plants, each with a 3,000-megawatt capacity.
"We can’t succumb to hysteria about it," Mr. Tusk said in televised remarks from northwestern Poland, near the border with Germany. "The reason for radiological risks in Japan isn’t an accident at the nuclear plant, but an earthquake and tsunami."
Germany’s response to Japan’s nuclear crisis has been the most dramatic among EU members. Mrs. Merkel last week ordered a review of safety standards and a three-month moratorium on an earlier decision by her government to extend the life-span of the country’s 17 nuclear plants. Depending on the outcome of the reviews, Germany may phase out atomic energy sooner than 2036 as is currently planned.
However, Mrs. Merkel’s swift reaction to the disasters in Japan has been criticized at home as an attempt to win votes from a public that has been skeptical of the benefits of nuclear power. Voters are expected to support the opposition Green party over Mrs. Merkel’s Christian Democrats in elections this Sunday in the key state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.