Monday, June 13, 2011

Italy: Resounding No on Nuke Plants

57% of eligible voters in Italy voted, and 94% of those who voted said no, according to exit polls.

From Power-Gen Worldwide (6/13/2011):

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi waved goodbye to nuclear power as Ministry of the Interior figures confirmed that the turnout for a national referendum was sufficient to repeal a law setting out plans for new plants.

According to Reuters, figures from the Interior Ministry showed turnout was running at 57 per cent with some 98 per cent of the vote counted. For any referendum verdict to be legally accepted, a quorum of 50 per cent plus one of the Italian population must be reached.

With exit polls indicating that 94 per cent of voters in the nuclear referendum voted against Enel's plans to build four Areva EPRs, Berlusconi's nuclear ambitions appeared to be thwarted.

Berlusconi, facing mounting problems since heavy local election losses last month, appeared to concede defeat at least in the nuclear referendum when he told a news conference the vote had probably ended prospects for atomic energy in Italy.
"Following the decision the Italian people are taking at this moment, we must probably say goodbye to the possibility of nuclear power stations and we must strongly commit ourselves to renewable energy," he said.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A glorious victory for italian people!
It was almost 20 years that a referendum didn't achieve such a great landslide. 95% voted against nuclear.
This is one of a few moments that I'm proud to be that italian.

Anonymous said...

Robbie001 sez:

You gotta love how Berlusconi worded his "concession" speech. “The decision people are taking ‘at this moment’, ‘probably’, ‘possibility" he hasn't given up hope. He has probably already made backdoor deals with AREVA that he can't easily go back on. I guess its time for some blackout persuasion or rate hikes in Italy. He also says, “we must strongly commit to renewables” Who is this “we” he’s talking about? He's the one with the power to make it happen if he were serious he would have had renewable proposals ready to announce after the nuclear defeat. Is he going to commit all the money he was going to waste on nuclear power to a renewable future for Italy? I doubt it, he'll probably just try to wait it out and so will the next leader.

Anonymous said...

Robbie001 sez:

OK, so now we have Germany, Italy and Switzerland vowing to dump nuclear power

"The Swiss government Wednesday decided to exit nuclear energy by phasing out the country's existing nuclear plants, possibly by 2034, and seeking alternative energy sources to meet its energy needs in response to safety concerns over Japan's ongoing crisis as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant".

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/swiss_abandon_nuclear

How many people knew that the Swiss had a nuclear accident?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucens_reactor

http://bartonpaullevenson.com/NukeAccidents.html

Actually Italian citizens have good reason to dislike nuclear power. I'm sure none of these investigations have borne any fruit. Know what I mean wink, wink, nudge, nudge?

"An informant from the Calabrian mafia said the ship was one of a number he blew up as part of an illegal operation to bypass laws on toxic waste disposal. The informant said the mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal."

"But he said that instead of getting rid of the material safely, he blew up the vessel out at sea, off the Calabrian coast."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8257912.stm

Investigation into Italian mafia's trafficking of nuclear waste

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/investigation-italian-mafias-trafficking-nuclear-waste

The robot sleeps with the fishes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/robot-hunts-toxic-waste-d_n_287161.html

netudiant said...

While this result is extraordinary, it is also a chance for Italians to express their disapproval of Berlusconi without needing to embrace any of his opponents. So I would not accept this result at face value until after Italians have had another winter with curtailed natural gas from Russia because of transit fee disputes.

Anonymous said...

But in the U.S., the "land of the free" we cannot vote as to whether or not we want nuke plants...

Anonymous said...

Thirty years ago, the people of New Zealand voted democratically to ban nuclear weapons and nuclear power from their sovereign nation.

The United states declared war on NZ diplomatically, and fiscally, damaging the country.

The USA also murdered two of New Zealands democratically elected Prime Ministers over the anti-nuclear issue.

NZSanctuary said...

"The USA also murdered two of New Zealands democratically elected Prime Ministers over the anti-nuclear issue."

Um, would you care to elaborate on this last bit

Anonymous said...

A great example of Germany, Italy and Swiss and a display of true meaning of democracy. If only more people showed that they are fed up with nuclear energy more countries would join this, humanity saving, movement and stop the nukes all over the world....

Anonymous said...

If in a new world there was a village of 50 people, 3 would find a way through law and mercantile to gather resources of the other forty seven then proceed to control laws that maintain the economic difference. These are the kings and queens of all societies worldwide. They cannot be easily reined in. They will not give up power in the face of people who were once their equals.

Post a Comment