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Czechs push for nuclear power revival after Russian gas shutdown

Business Materials 30 January 2009 19:18 (UTC +04:00)

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country chairs the European Union until June 30, called for a nuclear power revival in the wake of a gas crisis that left thousands of Eastern Europeans without heat in the midst of winter, dpa reported.

"Do we want sustainable energy supply with low (CO2) emissions? Then we cannot do without nuclear," Topolanek told an energy security conference in north-eastern Czech Republic.

While backing atomic power, Topolanek warned against reliance on "imported" sources of energy.

"Do we want to strengthen our freedom and independence? Then we can't depend on the import of oil and gas to such a large extent," he said.

Eastern European leaders have warned against generating electricity from gas after the two-week shutdown of Russian deliveries via Ukraine threatened Slovakia's power supply.

Experts say that the continent's growing gas needs have been chiefly fuelled by emergence of gas-fired power plants.

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs reiterated EU's neutral stance to nuclear power, which leaves its use up to the EU's 27 member states.

Piebalgs, who said he personally backs atomic energy, said opposition in countries such as Austria stand in the way of an EU-wide promotion of nuclear power plants.

The commissioner said the EU would not give nuclear power equal backing with renewable energy. "There are clear limits to how far the European Union can go with nuclear," he said.

The commissioner said that the EU could renew atomic-power loans "if member countries agree."

"I am ready to go ... as far as we can go in the union," Piebalgs said. "There are instruments that I think we should be less shy to use ... and at the same time keep some distance."

Nuclear energy critics see atomic power plants as costly and warn that countries have yet to figure out how to dispose of atomic waste adequately.

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