Nuclear energy faced further scrutiny in Europe as Italy’s cabinet
approved a moratorium on new reactors Wednesday, and European Union leaders are
calling for further inspections at European plants following the
earthquake-triggered nuclear crisis in Japan.
In Rome the Italian Cabinet approved a one-year moratorium
on new reactors, and a referendum on plant construction has been scheduled for
June. The country closed its four nuclear power plants following a 1987 vote,
and not until two years ago had Italian leadership moved to build more.
The moratorium comes as Germany recently reversed its
decision to extend licenses at its nuclear plants and took several of its
oldest reactors offline. Recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called
for common nuclear safety standards across the European Union. At a meeting
Monday, EU ministers agreed to examine safety precautions at all of the
continent’s 143 reactors. While details have not been agreed to, the “stress
tests,” as they have been described, would examine the reactors’ resilience in
the event of an earthquake, flood, station blackout or terrorist attack.