Publication Laka-library:
Electricity in Eastern Europe. 10 years after Chernobyl (1996)
| Author | Matthes, Mez |
| Date | April 1996 |
| Classification | 6.01.0.20/74 (IMPORTANCE WORLDWIDE) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
Ten Years After The Chernobyl Disaster Preface: Electricity in Eastern Europe Without a doubt, the catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine has influenced discussions and decisions about environmental issues and energy policy throughout the world. On April 26, 1986, the hypothetical case of a bad reactor accident with large areas of radioactive fallout and unforeseen consequences for health, nature, and the economies of surrounding countries became reality. In the years following the Chernobyl disaster, new political protagonists established themselves in the western political arena. The political makeup of other parties have in turn changed radically. Even well-established political and economic leaders have since ceased to promote nuclear energy. Chernobyl also contributed in many western states to the founding of new institutions (ministries) which are devoted to improved protection of the environment. In North America and Europe, the vision of massive development of the nuclear sector has largely failed to take hold ten years after the Chernobyl catastrophe. Political controversies about nuclear energy are now almost exclusively limited to existing facilities. Energy saving as well as new, more efficient and environmentally safe systems of energy production (such as combined heat and power systems, regenerative energy resources, etc.) play a much greater role now than they did ten years ago. And if many developments - even against the background of global climate change - still move very slowly, it may be assumed that the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986 has sensitized the public, politics, and even economics to the extent that increasingly a new energy policy was demanded and - to different degrees in different countries - initial approaches to such a policy could be implemented. The Chernobyl disaster thus acted as a real water-shed in the discussion of the environment and energy policy. For this reason, the development of the environmental and energy debate in North America and Western Europe has been extensively documented and analyzed.
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