Residents living near existing nuclear reactors only have "qualified support" for new power stations, a study shows.
While most locals trusted the operators of their nearby power station, some had a strong distrust of the UK Government and the nuclear industry, it added.
The government is pinning its hopes on a nuclear renaissance to meet Britain's climate change goals. Planning procedures are being eased and hidden subsidies offered. But the policy is based on a misunderstanding of nuclear power's lousy economics, and will fail
Tom Burke
Climate change and the oil crisis are being used to project atomic energy as a green panacea. In fact it is a reckless gamble
Vienna - Nuclear power is on the advance worldwide, and a recent safety scare in Europe is highly unlikely to stop it.
Nearly 440 nuclear reactors churn out electricity across the globe and more than 30 new plants are being built as the world's energy appetite grows and oil prices soar.
* Developing countries that have expressed interest in French nuclear power technology can't implement it anytime soon.
* A French-led global nuclear power renaissance is problematic, since the country's nonproliferation record is poor.
* French nuclear reactors aren't as safe as its promoters claim.
* Nuclear power provides only a small portion of total French energy consumption.
Construction Expenses More Than Double Since 2000, Still Rise
Public polls push for return to atomic supply as fears of another Chernobyl fade
EUOBSERVER / FOCUS - Europe's top energy official has called for a fresh discussion of the pros and cons of nuclear energy "without taboos."
Energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs wrote on Friday (16 May) in his blog that "Use of nuclear energy ... would increase our energy independence and supply security as well as contribute to the limitation of CO2 emissions."
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels has called on EU member states to end the six-year deadlock over one of Europe's touchiest topics and agree common nuclear safety rules as well as ways in which to store nuclear waste.
"It is an absolute necessity," EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs told EUobserver on Thursday (22 May), while blaming EU governments for a lack of political will to give Brussels a stronger say on the issue.
PRAGUE, May 24 (IPS) - The EU seems to be backing nuclear energy as the response to global warming and gas dependency, but civic groups warn that safety and waste processing should be preconditions for the industry's growth.
These issues were debated in Prague May 22-23 at the second European Nuclear Energy Forum, an EU (European Union) initiative to discuss opportunities and risks of nuclear energy.
