Bitter debate over future of nuclear power

Date: 18/03/1999

By Gareth Harding

NOWHERE has the debate between supporters and opponents of nuclear energy been more bitter and divisive than in Germany.

When it came to power last September, Gerhard Schröder's red-green coalition vowed to push through a law phasing out nuclear power by 2030 within the lifetime of the parliament.

But since then, talks between government and industry have stalled, plans to abandon nuclear power have been delayed and the ban on shipping nuclear waste for reprocessing looks like being shunted back.

Schröder's dithering has left his green partners incandescent and the coalition split on how to proceed with its plans. It has also handed Europe's nuclear industry a moment of respite in what many predict to be a downward spiral into oblivion.

The German dilemma is mirrored across Europe. Sweden voted to phase out nuclear power almost 20 years ago, but has not yet shut down any plants. Spain opted to stop the construction of new nuclear power stations in 1983, but is now having second thoughts.

Although orders for new plants have dried up in western Europe, industry sources say that rumours of nuclear power's death are exaggerated.

Jean-Paul Levi, vice-president of French nuclear giant Framatome, said that the industry was banking on a rush of new orders when Europe's ageing reactors have to be replaced in 2010-15.

Until then, the industry is busy selling itself as the environmentally friendly alternative to coal, oil and gas, which all contribute to global warming. "If we are serious about climate change, we need nuclear power," argues Levi.

Environmentalists claim that nuclear-generated power can be replaced by renewable sources. But the industry insists there would be an energy shortfall.