15 Dec. Sustainability only works without nuclear power: environmental assessment and involvement of neighboring countries necessary in any case!
The EU wants and needs to be climate-neutral by 2050 in order to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and avert an impending climate crisis. However, the reduction of CO2 emissions must not go hand in hand with an extension of backward-looking and dangerous technologies. "The news that France is planning a public consultation to continue operating the outdated 900MWe reactors on the Belgian border is disturbing," says Manuela Ripa, MEP of the Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP). "These plants were built to operate for 40 years - which has now expired. Especially as many of the French nuclear power plants are operated without the necessary environmental assessments. This violates EU law!"
Nuclear power has nothing to do with sustainability. In order to comply with the Green Deal, we must invest heavily in renewable energies and not in outdated solutions that also pose major risks to us and our environment!
To draw the EU Commission's attention to these shortcomings, Manuela Ripa and other MEPs have co-signed a letter to EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and EU Environment Commissioner Sinkevičius. In the letter, the MEPs point out that an environmental assessment is absolutely necessary for the operation of nuclear power plants and that the relevant neighboring countries must also be included in the decision-making process due to their proximity to the border. This also applies to Saarland in particular.
"Quite apart from the fact that the continued operation of these plants without appropriate studies for environmental protection and without adequate involvement of neighboring countries is untenable, we must make one thing clear: Nuclear power has nothing to do with sustainability. In order to comply with the Green Deal, we must invest heavily in renewable energies and not in outdated solutions that also pose major risks to us and our environment," Manuela Ripa concludes.