ope as of October 2005.
According to the European Nuclear Society (1), 35 percent
of the electricity used in the EU in 2004 was generated by nuclear energy. This is despite the fact, said Johnson (149), that many Europeans (especially Green Party members) continue to be opposed to nuclear power in general. Johnson (150) notes that in times when concerns about energy security increase, public opinion about nuclear power tends to become more positive and to decline when nuclear disasters such as that at Chernobyl occur. Regardless of public opinion, a number of countries, including Great Britain, are rethinking nuclear power and considering building new nuclear power plants to offset dependence on fossil fuels for home and business climate control (McGuire, Marias, Nadeau, Ferro, and McColl, 36).
The situation is complex. On the one hand, the literature suggests that some countries are aggressively closing nuclear plants. For example, Belgium passed a law in 2003 requiring the closure of seven nuclear plants supplying about two-thirds of the country's power no later than 2025 ("It's Crunch Timeà," 7). This decision is in sharp contrast to the EU Commission's recommendations in favor of an increase in nuclear fusion research to render nuclear power plants less damaging to the environment (Olesen, 1).
The problem that troubles EU policymakers and governments in various countries is that while nuclear power plants may produce cheap electricity without carbon dioxide emissions, they also create large quantities of highly radioactive spent fuel. France alone produces 1,200 tons of such fuel each year (Le Quesne, 1).
Brian Groom (17) pointed out in September 2004 that "slowly but surely, nuclear energy is coming back into fashion." Ukraine commissioned its first nuclear reactor since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. France plans a new demonstration European pressurized water reactor so that there is a pr...