Dmitry Tsurikov, Director of Nuclear Safety Institute

– Revival of interest in nuclear energy is observed all over Europe

61% of the Germans believe that their country will not do without nuclear energy, say the results of a survey held by Emnid institute. Only 36% reject nuclear energy, reports DPA. 61% believe that the hasty shut-down of NPPs will have a negative impact on the German economy, 31% think otherwise.

The revival of the interest in nuclear energy is observed all over Europe. The pragmatism of the Germans has prevailed. They wanted to develop nuclear energy but were scared by the Chernobyl accident.

By the way, when I worked in Europe, the Europeans refused to admit the negative effects of emissions. Now, CO2 emissions are a generally accepted problem.

The post-Chernobyl fear and emotions have given way to the aspiration to diversify energy sources — especially now that Europe is having problems with gas. Renewable sources are not generally applicable while non-renewable are not very safe. Nuclear power plants are potentially safe, i.e. they are just insignificantly dangerous. But they allow one to avoid dependence on gas and oil prices. Not only Germany but also Sweden and Italy have realized this and have decided to go back to nuclear energy.