The policies of non-nuclear countries in the European Union

Anti Atom International, the umbrella organization of the Austrian anti-nuclear movement, has published a report on the policies of non-nuclear countries in the European Union. The policies of Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden regarding energy and nuclear issues have been quantified and compared.

(521.5113) WISE Amsterdam - Within the European Union, nuclear power is on the decline. Of the 15 member states, seven have abandoned or never established nuclear programs (Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal). Meanwhile, the Netherlands, Sweden and most recently Belgium have declared active closure plans for their operating reactors. In Germany the SPD/Green government is committed to declare a definitive closure schedule for their reactors. In Spain, Finland and the UK, moratoriums exist against new constructions. Despite the decline of nuclear power within the EU, its institutions and bodies continue to put forward a pro-nuclear policy.

For several years Anti Atom International (AAI) has been campaigning for the creation of a "Coalition of non-nuclear countries". The objective of this coalition is to create a balanced discussion on energy and nuclear policies by countering the pro-nuclear lobbies within the international institutions. The parliament of Austria has unanimously passed a resolution which adopted some elements of the concept "Coalition of non-nuclear countries".

In the report the policies of Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have been assessed with regard to: Aarhus footnote ("Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden reaffirm the position that the use of the nuclear energy in general should be phased out in the long term. This position is shared by Cyprus", June 1998).

• Nuclear power share
• Renewable energy policy
• IAEA/EURATOM reform
• funding of Mochovce (Slovakia) and the Ukrainian K2/R4 reactors
• Liability regime
• EU enlargement
• Nuclear initiatives
• NGOs funding
• International nuclear research

Although the authors note it may have a number of problems, they have tried to quantify the policies of the various countries and drawen conclusions from the gathered information. It shows that none of the non-nuclear EU countries perform a stringent and consequent anti-nuclear policy. National legislation (i.e. liability regimes for nuclear damages) does not often follow the principle of best practices. Anti-nuclear initiatives are mainly focused on the nearest nuclear facility in a neighboring country. Because there are little or no signs of solidarity and cooperation between the involved countries, most of the initiatives fail. The survey also shows that even among the non-nuclear countries there is a wide variety of positions on nuclear power. The non-nuclear countries have not developed a unified strategy and common policy. The decline of nuclear power is not reflected in the political decisions, allocation of financial resources and energy policies of the EU institutions.
With regard to the EU enlargement, the EU member states appear more interested in a quick accession rather than demanding to raise nuclear safety levels within the accession countries.

Source: The policies of non-nuclear countries in the European Union. Status Report 2000. Paper prepared by Heinz Högelsberger and Antony Froggatt for AAI. Vienna, November 1999.
Contact: Anti Atom International (AAI)
Volksgartenstr. 1, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
Tel: +43-1-5229102
Fax: +43-1-5229103
E-mail: AAI@blackbox.at

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