From Fukushima to Hinkley

On 11 March 2011, one of the most powerful earthquakes on record hit the north-east of Japan. The resulting tsunami struck the nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi and heavily damaged the plant. Massive amounts of radioactive material were released into the environment. Since Chernobyl in 1986 this has been the largest nuclear disaster with far-reaching consequences.

Four years after the disaster and in light of the recent decision of the European Commission to allow the UK government to heavily subsidise a new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point C in South-West England, this conference aimed at dismantling the nuclear argument on a national and European level. With distinguished speakers and experts from the UK, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, this one-day conference dissected the pro-nuclear argument and brought forward arguments and facts to support a sustainable energy future. This report presents the main arguments that have been discussed at the conference.