Italy to freeze nuclear program for a year

[News_Editor]

Italy to freeze nuclear program for a year

2011-03-23 06:23:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

ROME, ITALY (BNO NEWS) -- Italy on Tuesday announced that it will freeze its nuclear program for a year as ongoing nuclear accidents in Japan have brought international concerns regarding nuclear energy.

According to the ANSA news agency, Industry Minister Paolo Romani announced a one-year moratorium on reviving the country's nuclear program. The Italian government was in the process of searching sites for constructing future nuclear power plants.

In addition, the government led by controversial Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will hold a referendum on the four planned nuclear plants on June 12. Last year, Italy announced plans to restart its nuclear program which was abandoned one year after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

On Monday, Romani announced that serious consideration was needed as other European countries were doing with the immediate priority to review nuclear security in the continent.

The European Union announced last week that it will be conducting stress tests on nuclear reactors of member states as well as in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Russia and Switzerland.

The Industry Minister added that he was seeking "enough information" in regards to the EU stress tests for the Italian population ahead of the June referendum. However, the EU said the tests results are expected by the end of the year.

Italy's plans to revive its nuclear program consist so far in the construction of four latest-generation nuclear plants and a waste site. Locations have not been decided yet and recent events in Japan have caused unrest in some regional governments that were candidates to host one of the planned facilities.

After the Japanese crisis, many countries have announced their efforts to ensure nuclear safety. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a three-month moratorium that put on hold the plans of extending the lifespan of the German nuclear reactors in order to conduct safety inspections.

One day later, the German chancellor said that seven plants constructed before 1980 would be shut down for the duration of the moratorium. In Asia, the Chinese government ordered safety checks on all its nuclear power plants to avoid incidents.

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