On March 11th, 2021, Heinrich Böll Foundation Bremen together with the Young DGO Regional Group Bremen (which is co-run by Mod-Block-DDR project members Dr. Mariia Shkolnykova, Mareike zum Felde and Olga Masyutina) organized an online event about the future of civilian use of atomic energy in Europe.
This spring marks the 10th and 35th anniversary of the two worst nuclear accidents in the human history – the disaster in Japanese Fukushima in 2011 and the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. Despite potential dangers of atomic energy, 412 reactors are still active worldwide, with 6 of them located in Germany. Moreover, faced with challenges of climate change and the shortage of natural resources, some countries are contemplating further development of their nuclear energy programs. So where do we now stand with regard to atomic energy use, given different historical experiences of European countries?
Sonja Risteska (expert from Agora Enegiewende thinktank), Carsten Rau (filmmaker of "Atomkraft Forever" documentary) and Sergej Sumlenny (head of Heinrich Böll Foundation Kiev bureau) offered their expert opinion on the topic, with a regional focus on Eastern Europe.
The recording of the panel discussion can be found here.
A follow-up event about the problem of nuclear waste storage in Germany will be held on April 26th, 2021.
