Nuclear power - abandonment or renaissance?

Since 1981, the international nuclear lobby has been trying to stave off a nuclear renaissance. Since 1989, the number of reactors in service worldwide has risen from 423 to 436, an increase of less than one per year. In April 2009, there will be eight fewer reactors in service than in 2002, the year of the all-time record, when there were 444 reactors. With the June 2000 consensus on the nuclear phase-out, the Red-Green coalition government made a crucial shift in Germany's energy policy. After 20 months of negotiations with the operators, an agreement was reached which, among other things, stipulates that operating licences for nuclear power plants are limited in time, and prohibits the construction of new nuclear power plants and the transport of nuclear fuel to reprocessing centers. Thus, for the first time, a major industrial country is giving a strong signal on nuclear power - for a nuclear phase-out by 2023. The grand coalition does, however, accept its national responsibility for the safe disposal of radioactive waste, but the goal of finding a solution within this parliamentary term is unlikely to be achieved. Since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, there has never been a majority in Germany in favor of building new nuclear power plants. Opponents of nuclear power have always outnumbered supporters by 10-20%