Dstandish's Weblog

Demonstrations against restarting nuclear power generation in Italy have been held in Venice and other cities in Italy in the buildup to the planned referendum on 12 and 13 June 2011.
A demonstration on St Mark’s Square, Venice, highlighted the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine. Details of this demonstration were reported in the Venice daily newspaper La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre: Antinuclearisti in piazza San Marco a Venezia \"25 anni dopo, nessun\'altra Chernobyl\"
The protesters called for a vote against reviving nuclear power generation in Italy in the June referendum. However, the current Italian government has made preparations to drop a question about nuclear power from the June referendum. The reasons for this are explained in my article here: Is it arrivederci to nuclear power in Italy?
This is an undemocratic manoeuvre on the part of the Italian government. Instead, this government should have maintained its previous pro-nuclear policy and campaigned for a vote in favour of restarting nuclear power generation in the country for the June referendum.
Italy requires nuclear energy to meet growing demand and to lower the cost of electricity for consumers and businesses. As outlined in my forthcoming book, Venice in Environmental Peril? Myth and Reality, the Marghera industrial area bordering Venice would be a suitable site for a nuclear power plant to replace the dwindling petrochemical industries. But this would require an Italian government that can overcome risk-aversion to nuclear power and provide a consistent energy policy.