Nuclear power sparks dispute over ‘credits’

Date: 09/03/2000

By Renée Cordes

A BITTER argument is brewing among EU governments over whether countries should be able to get greenhouse-gas emission-reduction 'credits' for building nuclear power plants in developing countries.

Most member states and the European Commission insist that countries should not be allowed to offset nuclear projects financed abroad against pledges to cut emissions at home.

But the UK is resisting attempts to introduce a blanket ban on nuclear power qualifying for credits, arguing that it should be left to developing countries to decide for themselves what kind of clean energy to promote. "We believe that the host-developing country should play a key role in assessing whether the project conforms with sustainable aims and priorities," said a British official.

Parties to the Kyoto accord are struggling to define what kind of energy should qualify for 'clean development mechanism' (CDM) credits. These policy options, more commonly known as 'flexible mechanisms', are based on the premise that as global warming is an international problem, it does not really matter in what part of the world greenhouse-gas cuts are made so long as the overall goal is achieved.

If the argument over nuclear energy is not resolved soon, the dispute among EU governments threatens to weaken the Union's bargaining position when officials from 30 countries meet for formal talks in Malaysia at the end of this month - the first to specifically address the question of flexible mechanisms since last autumn's climate change conference in Bonn.

Most member states and the Commission contend that nuclear energy is expensive, generates waste and is financially unsound. "It would be immoral to use the CDM to export a technology to developing countries which we do not want to have more of in Europe," said a Commission official.

He added that the Commission was seeking agreement on a 'positive' list of energy sources which could qualify as CDMs, but would accept a 'negative' list of those which would be excluded.

A bitter argument is brewing among EU governments over whether countries should be able to get greenhouse-gas emission-reduction 'credits' for building nuclear power plants in developing countries.