Stress tests on nuclear reactors, Europe’s future energy mix and the lessons to be learnt from the ongoing nuclear accidents in Japan were the hot issues in front of the European Parliament’s Energy and Environment Committees this week.

EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger spoke of the “mammoth earthquake that shifted Japan’s position on the globe” and said that “as a result we are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster” and that “the site is effectively out of control”.

“The EU’s 143 nuclear plants are to be be subjected to a European safety test and stress tests” taking into account risks as earthquakes, flooding, aircraft crashes, cyber or terrorist attacks, cooling systems and their stability and local electricity supply failure.

In the coming weeks, the Commission will start laying down the general standards for these stress tests. The standards should be defined by June and the safety checks carried out in the second half of the year. “Partner countries should be involved and have the same safety standards”, he emphasised.

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