Year After Fukushima, Nuclear Energy Divides Europe

 　　Last year's accident at Japan's Fukushima-Daichi nuclear power plant has intensified¹ divisions in Europe over the safety and future of nuclear energy. Perhaps nowhere are the differences more apparent than between the region's biggest powers - France and Germany.

　　The eurozone crisis has strengthened bonds between France and Germany. But another crisis - last year's nuclear accident in Japan - is dividing these European neighbors.

　　French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a strong proponent² of nuclear energy. He argues that nuclear energy is critical in supplying jobs and low-cost power.

　　France is one of the world's leading nuclear energy producers. Roughly three-quarters of electricity here is derived³ from nuclear power. France also exports nuclear energy and technology. French companies will be building a nuclear reactor⁴ in Britain, and are bidding to build others in South Africa.

　　But the Fukushima accident prompted the German government to announce a shutdown of all its nuclear reactors⁵ by 2022 - rather than a more gradual phaseout.

　　Germany's action followed massive anti-nuclear protests - protests that did not take place in France. Luis Echavarri is director-general of the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency, an arm of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

　　"The difference between Germany and France, in my opinion, is the reaction of the society for nuclear," said Echavarri. "I think we have to take into account that the social situation of nuclear power in Germany has not been very good in the last 20-25 years. However, in France, there is a feeling in the society that nuclear power is in the best interests of France."

　　Those divisions are mirrored elsewhere in Europe.

　　"There are a few countries - like Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland - which have been very clearly saying that they were going to shut down someday their nuclear power plants and they are not going to construct more. But at the same time, there are many other countries which have stated that they are going to continue operating existing nuclear power plants and that, in addition, they are going to build more," said Echavarri.

　　But even in France, Fukushima has raised concerns about nuclear power. They're raised at town hall meetings - especially now, as the country gears up for April presidential elections.

　　Sarkozy's main rival, Socialist⁶ Party candidate Francois Hollande, wants to reduce France's dependence⁷ on nuclear energy but not end it altogether.

　　But Yannick Rousselet, who heads nuclear issues at Greenpeace France, believes this is the beginning of the end.

　　"I think there is a lot of change in the opinion. They are not in favor of stopping today. But clearly, I think now a big majority of people think that we must phase out," said Rousselet.

　　Public alarm was raised in December, when Greenpeace broke into two power stations in France, to highlight their vulnerability to terrorist attacks. Overall, Rousselet says, French reactors are vulnerable.

　　"We can have lots of different problems of safety in France," he said. "The problem is that we are not ready for that. We are absolutely not ready. The reactors are not ready. And the answer is not ready."

　　Bertrand Barre, advisor⁸ to French nuclear company Areva, disagrees. "I think people in France are safe. But of course, in nuclear as in any other activity, there is always a residual⁹ risk. The risk zero doesn't exist," he said.

　　Barre says new European Union stress tests will make the reactors even better able to cope with disaster - a claim rejected by nuclear energy critics like Rousselet.

　　The two sides are also divided over the cost of nuclear power generation - and the possibility of depending entirely¹⁰ on renewables like solar and wind energy.  What is certain is that a year after Fukushima, nuclear power remains¹¹ a key element of Europe's energy equation.

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

3 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

5 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

6 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

7 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

8 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

9 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。