By John LaForge
Nukewatch Quarterly Winter 2018-19
French President Emmanuel Macron said Nov. 27, 2018 that France would reduce its share of electricity produced by nuclear reactors from 72 percent today to 50 percent by 2035, “rather than the total phasing out planned by neighbor Germany.” Belgium, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan and Switzerland have all committed to phasing-out their nuclear power programs. In 2017, South Korea announced a halt to its nuclear power expansion. During the 2017 presidential election campaign, President Moon Jae-in said, “We will abandon the development policy centered on nuclear power plants and exit the era of nuclear energy.” President Moon—noting the 3-reactor catastrophe of March 2011, in Fukushima, Japan, which was centered about 730 miles from Seoul—said plans for new power reactors would be cancelled and that existing units would not be operated beyond their design life. He also said that the earthquake resistance of South Korea’s operating reactors—reportedly “reinforced” since the Fukushima meltdowns in 2011—would be re-examined.
—Reuters, Nov. 27, 2018; AFP, Nov. 26, 2018; World Nuclear News online, June 19, 2017
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