European Nations Warming to Nuclear Power

Europe has not seen new nuclear power plants built for the past two decades, but that trend is changing. As I wrote about back in November, new technology in the nuclear power production sector has made this type of energy more attractive. In Finland, the first of several new nuclear reactors in a variety of European countries has been under construction and is due to be completed and online by 2009. This type of production was halted back in the mid-1980s as the Chernobyl crisis sent shock waves through Europe. But as oil prices rise and problems with oil coming through the Ukraine mount, and Europe's participation in global climate relief programs such as the Kyoto Protocol mandate reductions in greenhouse gases, nuclear power has become a resurrected possibility for energy. Note that nuclear power plants do not release greenhouse gases. Look for continued interest in Europe as well as other areas of the world, including the U.S., as far as the use and scope of nuclear power programs.