"Unthinkable" has happened in Japan, says EU Energy Commissioner

Mar 14, 2011, 16:49 GMT

Berlin - EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said Monday that events in Japan would force a fundamental rethink of energy policy around the world.

'The unthinkable has occurred,' Oettinger told the German Press Agency dpa. 'Energy policy faces a fundamental new beginning.'

Oettinger, who has invited EU energy ministers and nuclear safety experts to talks in Brussels on Tuesday, said that nobody had thought

a nuclear accident of the scale being witnessed could happen in a country as developed as Japan.

As a result, he hoped for an 'open-minded, fundamental' global discussion about nuclear power. Germany was virtually alone in viewing nuclear as a transition technology, rather than a long-term energy source, Oettinger said.

The EU energy chief, who is German, pointed out that countries could not simply switch off their nuclear power plants, as these accounted for 30 per cent of energy across Europe and as much as 80 per cent in France.

'But it is clear that nothing is irreplaceable,' Oettinger added, stressing that nuclear energy served a role while renewable power generation was developed further.

He also stressed that advances in renewable energy required 'a huge push towards European infrastructure, a europeanization of energy policy and a development of storage capacities.'

Oettinger 'has invited the 27 Energy Ministers, all 27 national nuclear safety authorities and all operators of nuclear power plants in the EU and vendors of nuclear power plants in the EU (around 30),' a statement from the European Commission said.

The objective of the planned two-hour meeting is 'to assess the Japanese situation and to find out if there are any lessons that need to be drawn at European level,' the note added.

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