Gunther Oettinger

Commission split over state aid for nuclear

Thursday, October 3, 2013

The European Commission is divided over state-aid rules for energy and the environment ahead of a debate to be held in Strasbourg next week (Tuesday 8 October). The Commission is preparing guidance for member states in a bid to solve inconsistencies that have plagued two areas: feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, and state subsidies for nuclear power plants. A draft version of the guidance will be issued by the end of the year, with a view to adoption in 2014.

The nuclear industry wants European Union rules changed so that member states can provide direct state aid for building nuclear power plants. But member states and Commission departments are split on the issue. Several member states – including France, the Czech Republic and the UK – want the Commission to relax state-aid rules so they can use environmental subsidies to fund nuclear plants, seeing such a policy as part of a ‘low-carbon' approach. But other countries, including Germany and Austria, are adamantly opposed to nuclear being on the same footing as renewables when it comes to environmental subsidies.

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Twitter row after Oettinger dubs UK nuclear plans ‘Soviet’

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

A prominent clean energy campaigner has been banned from the European Energy Forum after tweeting remarks made by the EU’s energy commissioner describing the UK’s plan to hand out long-term contracts to nuclear companies as “Soviet”.

Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger’s putdown of the €16.5-billion British plan will likely be met with furrowed brows in London, where the 35-40-year contracts have proved controversial to some because of their length, nature and the scale of the subsidy involved.

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Oettinger calls for ministerial meeting on ITER

Monday, February 25, 2013

While MEPs continued their debate on the European Commission’s proposal to grant a specific budget under the multiannual financial framework to the ITER nuclear fusion research and engineering project, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger announced to the member states’ research ministers, meeting in Brussels on 18 February, that he would organise a ministerial meeting of the ITER Council in Cadarache, France, in September this year.

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Flaws make restart of two Belgian nuclear plants ‘hazardous’: Study

Friday, January 11, 2013

Restarting two Belgian nuclear power plants which have been shut since the discovery of micro-cracks in their reactor vessels would be a hazardous move with potentially “catastrophic consequences”, according to a new study commissioned by the Green Party group in the European Parliament.

“A possible failure of the reactor due to sudden crack growth in case of local thermal stresses cannot be excluded and would have catastrophic consequences, especially in the vicinity of densely populated and high-economic activity areas,” it says.

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Oettinger urges Lithuania to build nuclear power plant

Friday, November 16, 2012

Lithuania will find it difficult to ensure the security of energy supply without building a new nuclear power plant, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said.

Oettinger said on Wednesday (14 November) that if a nuclear power plant is not built in Lithuania, the problems with energy supply security will persist in the entire region, including the Baltic countries, Finland and the Kaliningrad region, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.

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EU nuclear plant stress tests leaked, improvements due

Monday, October 1, 2012

European stress tests on nuclear power plants in the EU have identified room for improvement at almost all the bloc's reactors. Yet Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger described the overall situation as "satisfactory."

The nuclear stress tests were not due to be presented to EU leaders until their next summit in mid-October, but several news agencies acquired the report ahead of time on Monday.

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EU calls for more nuclear tests after Belgian fears

Friday, August 10, 2012

The discovery of possible cracks in a Belgian nuclear reactor should trigger urgent testing around the EU, but such decisions are for national governments to take, a European Commission spokeswoman said on Thursday.

"National authorities will conduct tests, that seems obvious," said Marlene Holzner, spokeswoman for EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger. "The European Commission can make recommendations, but it can't make them binding," she stressed.

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EU energy chief says nuclear stress tests need time

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) - European Union safety tests on nuclear plants should be completed by around the middle of the year as time is needed to ensure they are thorough enough, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.

In comments ahead of the anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11, Oettinger said stress tests would be completed "not later than summer".

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EU Council draft of nuclear waste directive to allow exports: sources

Thursday, June 30, 2011

European Union member state experts have agreed on a draft text for a new nuclear waste and spent fuel management directive that would allow permanent exports of waste from the EU under certain conditions.

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EU agrees "stress tests" for nuclear reactors

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

BRUSSELS, May 25 (Reuters) - European nuclear watchdogs have agreed details of safety checks on the EU's reactors to prevent crises like that in Japan, but they will not include tests for resisting terror attacks, the European Commission said.

European leaders agreed in March to subject European nuclear power plants to "stress tests", but since then experts at national nuclear authorities have been wrangling over details such as whether to test for resilience to acts of terror.

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