Germany to end nuclear power by 2020

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173063.html

The German government plans to phase out all nuclear power plants in the country by 2020, a decision that could cost millions of euros in losses every year for the utility industries.

“A decision has been taken to shut down eight plants before the end of this year and they definitely won't be reactivated. And the remaining nine will be shut down by the end of the decade," Juergen Becker, Germany's deputy environment minister, told Reuters on Monday.

“Japan has shown that even if there is a miniscule occurrence, the residual risk is too high to justify the continuation of nuclear power.... It is better to go for other energy services in a civilized country," he said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, has repeatedly announced that the plan has not been approved yet and that her cabinet intends to analyze the reports of two separate government-appointed commissions, one of which held its first meeting on Monday in the Chancellery.

“All of these issues [resulting from a possible nuclear power phase out] should be discussed, weighted and quantified," Merkel said on Monday before the meeting.

The decision could cost millions of euros every year for four of the big utility companies, RWE, E.ON, EnBW and Vattenfall.

'Bushehr plant nullified US threats'

The Bushehr power plant in southern Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139906.html

An Iranian lawmaker says the Bushehr power plant's imminent start-up proved the "shallowness" of the United States and Israel's military threats.

Despite the US and Israeli intimidations that they would strike the Bushehr power plant, the nuclear reactor will go online and this proves "the shallowness of such threats," said the Spokesman for the Social Commission of Iran's Majlis (parliament) Javad Zamani on Monday.

The Iranian lawmaker also hailed the resistance and patience of the Iranian nation, saying such "endurance led to such a big victory", Zamani added.

"The Iranian officials came across a lot of problems all the way through the reactors' completion, but their patience and resistance helped them achieve this victory," he further explained.

The Majlis representative further criticized Russia's delay in launching the reactor.

"Russia is not a reliable side and it only completed the Bushehr project under Iran's pressure," he noted.

Iran began loading nuclear fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Sunday under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and senior officials from Iran and Russia.

According to Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi, the plant's fueling process will be completed by September 5.

The United States and Israel have accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear work, a claim vehemently rejected by Iran.

Iran insists that all its nuclear activities have been under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty reserves the right to continue its uranium enrichment.