Politics can't close down Dutch nuclear

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Provided by courtesy Mike Russell (Powernet):

Dear friends of clean nuclear energy,  

The Netherlands' only operating nuclear power plant - Borssele - is 
no longer facing imminent shutdown.  

Last month, the Dutch High Administrative Court annulled a change to 
the plant's license that would have forced Borssele to close by the 
end of 2003.  

In 1994, the Dutch parliament narrowly voted in favor of shutting 
down the 449 megawatt plant. Following the vote, the Ministry of 
Economic Affairs amended Borssele's operating license to have it 
expire Dec. 31, 2003. Last december, employees of EPZ, the Dutch 
utility that operates Borssele, challenged the amendment before the 
Dutch High Court. EPZ employees argued that the Economic Affairs 
Ministry did not produce an environmental justification for the 
forced closure of the plant, and that because replacement power would 
be supplied by a plant burning fossil fuels, the license change was 
invalid.  

Borssele provides more than 4% of the country's electricity and would 
account for 2-3% of the Netherlands' carbon dioxyde reduction under 
the Kyoto agreement.  

In its decision, the Dutch High Court said the country's atomic law 
specifies the grounds on which a nuclear license can be denied.  

Because the decision to force the plant's shutdown was merely 
politically motivated, it has no legal basis. As a result of the 
court's ruling, Borssele now has no limit on its operating license.  

With best regards,

Bruno Comby
President of EFN
ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY

Source : Insight Newsletter, March 2000
http://www.ecolo.org

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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