Italy is holding a referendum on whether the country should revive its atomic energy ambitions. Plans to restart the country's nuclear program by 2014 were shelved due to safety concerns in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.
Germany recently took the decision to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022, and Switzerland has opted for a similar route. Yet, Libor Roucek, a member of the European Parliament, believes pulling the plug on Europe's reactors is not the way out.“Nobody in Europe is immune,” he said. “I would suggest instead of closing nuclear power plants [that] we all come together, concentrate on the questions of nuclear safety. Because we don’t want any nuclear disaster – neither in the EU countries, nor in Russia, nor in Ukraine, nor, for instance, in Turkey, which is also looking and planning to build nuclear power plants.”“So, instead of closing down nuclear power plants, I think we should jointly focus on the questions of safety and security,” the MEP added.