Nuclear – Stress tests “look like Swiss cheese”

Nucléaire – Testes de résistence “ressemblent un morceau de Gruyère”E

The safety stamp European commissioner Günther Ôttinger gave the EU’s 143 nuclear power plants on November 24, has met severe criticism from Greens and environment organisations alike. According to Green MEP Rebecca Harms, they are a “charade”.

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Le tampon de sécurité le commissaire européen Günther Ôttinger a donné les 143 réacteurs nucléaires le 24 novembre, a rencontré de sévères critiques de la part des Verts et des organisations environnementales. L’eurodéputée verte Rebecca Harms parle d’une “mascarade “.

The criticisms are a reaction to the preliminary findings of a series of so-called stress tests, designed by the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group, and carried out by the operators of the power plants themselves. According to commission officials safety margins could be improved, the EUObserver writes, but the EU’s 143 plants are safe to keep on working. Not a single regulator has identified urgent safety improvements, the commissioners said. However, almost all provided “limited” to “very limited information”.

Green MEP REbecca Harms

The consequences of this false suggestion of safety go beyond the European Union, Harms added, because Japan and other Asian countries will use the European stress tests to assess the risks of their plants too.  Environmental ngo’s are very critical as well. Greenpeace said during a press conference that technically, they  “look like Swiss cheese”.

The last word on the tests has not been spoken yet. The final results of the tests, which are expected by the end of the year, will be subject to peer review from national regulators and officially presented by June 2012.