Disputes delay EU nuclear stress tests

Plans to subject Europe’s nuclear reactors to a common safety test hit a snag in May 2011 amid disputes over whether facilities should be examined for their ability to withstand aeroplane crashes and other possible terrorist attacks.

The disagreement revealed the difficulty of implementing a policy that was supposed to be the European Union’s main response to the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant earlier in 2011.

Reports on the 25 May 2011 suggested that the European nuclear watchdogs had struck a deal on the details of safety checks. The 'stress tests' would not include tests for resisting terror attacks.

La Voix du Luxembourg, 25.5.11: Stress-test for nothing? (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/674221-stress-test-nothing

Deutsche Welle, 25.5.11: EU reaches consensus on reactor 'stress tests' http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15105712,00.html

EUObserver, 25.5.11: EU reaches uneasy compromise over nuclear 'stress tests' http://euobserver.com/9/32394

ESO: Background information: Discord over European nuclear plant tests / Sharp rise in European anxiety on nuclear safety http://www.europeansources.info/record/discord-over-european-nuclear-plant-tests-sharp-rise-in-european-anxiety-on-nuclear-safety/

Website: European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) http://www.ensreg.org/

EUObserver, 13.5.11: Europe's nuclear 'stress tests' delayed http://euobserver.com/9/32326

Die Tageszeitung, 18.5.11: Stress-free stress test (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/660901-stress-free-stress-test

Die Tageszeitung, 26.5.11: Regulate nuclear, not bananas (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/676451-regulate-nuclear-not-bananas

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