IP/08/1624
Bratislava, 3 November 2008
Open debate on opportunities and risks of
nuclear energy at the European Nuclear Energy Forum third meeting in
Bratislava
The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Czech
counterpart Mirek Topolánek have today opened the third plenary session of
the European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) which will run until tomorrow in the
Slovak capital Bratislava. 200 high-ranking participants from all relevant
stakeholders are discussing risks, opportunities and transparency issues of
nuclear energy. In his welcome message to the Forum, Commissioner Piebalgs
highlighted the importance of investing in low carbon electricity generation. He
also stressed that "it is time to respond to the demand from European citizens
to develop a common legislative framework for nuclear safety" confirming that
the Commission will present in a few weeks a revised proposal for a Directive on
nuclear safety.
The Forum has again attracted 200 participants from Member State governments,
European Institutions and major energy companies as well as a large number of
key actors in the field of public administration, industry, finance and civil
society. Besides the Prime Ministers of the two host countries, the ENEF opening
session was attended by several Ministers, Members of the European Parliament,
Mrs Dana Drábová, President of the Western European Nuclear Regulators
Association (WENRA), industry leaders such as Fulvio Conti, Pertti Simola and
Ana Palacio, respectively CEO of ENEL, Vice-President of PVO and Member of the
Board of AREVA, and representatives of civil society, including non-government
organisations, e.g. Greenpeace represented by Jorgo Riss, Executive Director of
Greenpeace Europe, and Friends of the Earth.
ENEF is conceived as a platform to promote a broad discussion among all
relevant stakeholders on the opportunities and risks of nuclear energy. The
Commission's proposal to create the European Nuclear Energy Forum was endorsed
by the European Council in March 2007. Hosted successively in Bratislava and
Prague, ENEF meets twice per year.
On the basis of reports presented by the three working groups, which were set
up during the first plenary meeting in November 2007, the debate in Bratislava
will concentrate on priority issues, namely:
- How to guarantee a high level of nuclear safety all over Europe;
- How to translate the costs of nuclear-generated electricity into electricity
prices;
- How to develop new concepts for electricity grids; and
- How to better involve the public in nuclear
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