[cdn-nucl-l] EU needs nuclear to meet Kyoto targets

["Brown, Morgan" <brownmj@aecl.ca>]

From: http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=4180

EU'S De Palacio says nuclear needed for Kyoto targets 

EU: October 15, 1999 

BRUSSELS - The European Union will need nuclear energy to reach its
greenhouse gas reduction targets under the 1997 Kyoto climate change
protocol, EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said yesterday. 

"I'm not terribly keen on nuclear energy. I don't think anyone is, because
it does entail risks," de Palacio told a European Parliament committee. 
"But if we don't have it, we won't be able to stick by the terms of the
Kyoto agreement. And it does give us greater energy autonomy," de Palacio
said. 
The 15-member EU undertook at Kyoto to cut its emissions of six gases linked
to global warming by eight percent from 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. 
A number of EU countries, including Germany and Belgium, are debating
scaling down or abandoning their nuclear power stations, which produce no
carbon dioxide but do carry risks of radiation leaks. 
De Palacio told the parliament that efforts had to be made to secure
reliable long-term energy supplies for the EU. She said the bloc is already
dependent on imports for 50 percent of its energy needs and that this could
rise to 70 percent by 2020.