Nuclear Energy

nuclear phase-out plans which are now considering reversing this phase-out (6), and countries with
nuclear plants and without phase out policies (4).
(i) The Anti-Nuclear Countries
We first discuss those countries which do not operate nuclear plants.
Austria, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Norway are declared
non-nuclear countries. They do not operate any nuclear plants. While most of them have never had
a nuclear power program cccxxii , Austria and Denmark did have one but decided to scrap it many
years ago. Austria had in fact built a nuclear plant in the 1970s, and there were plans to build two
more reactors, but a referendum in 1978 against nuclear power succeeded because of which the
technically finished reactor was never started. Since then, a majority of the people and all major
political parties are against nuclear power. cccxxiii Denmark too was once at the forefront of nuclear
research and had planned on building nuclear power plants. However, in 1985, the Danish
parliament passed a resolution that nuclear power plants would not be built in the country. cccxxiv
In recent times, there have been rumours that Greece was planning to go nuclear. However,
in a statement in February 2009, the Greece Development Minister trashed these rumours and in
fact ruled out investment not just in nuclear plants but also coal fired plants. cccxxv
(ii) Countries where Nuclear Policy is in Flux
Rising public consciousness about the terrible environmental consequences of nuclear
energy, especially after the Chernobyl accident, led the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Italy to
impose moratorium on construction of new nuclear plants and decide to phase out the existing
nuclear plants. Italy shut down its last nuclear reactor in 1990; cccxxvi the Dutch parliament voted in
1994 to phase out its only nuclear power plant by 2003; cccxxvii while Sweden planned to complete
the phase out of its 10 reactors by 2010. cccxxviii Belgium decided to shut down its 7 reactors after 40
years of operation, which meant they would shut down between 2014 and 2025. cccxxix
A powerful anti-nuclear movement ultimately led to the German Parliament voting in 2002
to pass the Nuclear Exit Law, whereby all the 19 operating nuclear plants would gradually shut
down and all civilian uses of nuclear power would cease by 2020, meaning construction of new
nuclear plants would be prohibited. In accordance with this law, two units have been shut down so
far. cccxxx
Spain imposed a moratorium on construction of new nuclear plants in 1983. In 2008, the
centre-left government of Jose Luis Zapatero came to power on an election manifesto which
pledged to gradually replace nuclear energy with renewable energy and also phase out Spain’s
nuclear plants once they reached the age of 40 years. cccxxxi
Nuclear Revival
Powerful lobbying by the nuclear industry has got five of these countries – Belgium,
Sweden, Italy, Netherlands and Germany – to reconsider their decision to phase out nuclear energy.
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