Nuclear energy must be possible in the province of Groningen. With a motion to that effect, VVD threw the bat in the coop in the Provincial Council on Wednesday, with the support of the BBB.
The Groningen provincial government has long refused to cooperate in the establishment of nuclear power plants. In The Hague, Eemshaven had been in the picture for a very long time as a business location, but politicians always remained staunchly opposed. The provincial environmental ordinance therefore includes an explicit ban on the generation of nuclear energy.
VVD puts ax in ‘protection wall’ together with BBB
The VVD now wants to get rid of that ban. According to party chairman Erik Jan Bennema, it is no longer of this time. Now that natural gas and other fossil fuels will be completely banned for the production of energy in the coming years, the Netherlands can no longer ignore nuclear energy, he says. “It has to be taboo.”
Nuclear energy offers a long-term sustainable alternative to fossil energy sources, says Bennema with the support of BBB, PVV, FvD and Volt. In their view, nuclear power stations are even more sustainable than wind and solar parks, which place a heavy claim on the available space and cause landscape pollution.
‘VVD has not yet closed the gas tap or it is giving Groningen nuclear power station as a gift’
That attitude resulted in a storm of criticism for the VVD and its supporters on Wednesday. Because Bennema can insist on an ‘open’ exchange of ideas about the pros and cons, but such a social debate does not necessarily mean that the current protective wall against nuclear power plants has to be taken down in advance. ..That is the wrong order”, says PvdA party leader Pascal Roemers.
“The VVD has not yet let go of the gas tap with one hand when it gives Groningen a nuclear power station with the other hand,” scorns ChristenUnie party chairman Fredric Geijtenbeek. He points out that the prime minister thought to make the province happy last spring by promising a nuclear power station in Eemshaven in the run-up to the parliamentary elections. ,,So this fits in a consistent line of this party.”
New college welcomes discussion
The new Provincial Executive does not intend to remove all obstacles to nuclear energy in advance either. However, deputies Johan Hamster (ChristenUnie) and Bram Schmaal (Groninger Belang) promise a broad social debate with the people of Groningen about whether there is any support for a nuclear power plant in the province at all. But only when the population pronounces it that way will the way be cleared,
Proponents of nuclear energy are satisfied with this for the time being. Bennema eventually took his motion off the table before a majority of States could oppose it. Yet his VVD has a warm ally in the largest coalition partner BBB. Group leader Gouke Moes sees more advantages than disadvantages in a nuclear power station: “As far as I am concerned, it is allowed ‘in my backyard’.”
‘There is no support for nuclear energy in Groningen’
For the time being, however, there is no support for nuclear energy in Groningen, the Party for the North acknowledges. It initially co-sponsored the VVD motion, but quickly withdrew its support. According to party leader Dries Zwart, his party is only concerned with identifying all available alternatives to landscape-polluting wind and solar parks.
ChristenUnie leader Geijtenbeek had to point out that the VVD motion goes much further than that. Bennema not only calls for a debate, but also for an end to the ban on the production of nuclear energy and even the above-ground storage of nuclear waste. The latter would be due to a typing error in the motion, the VVD member stated. ‘You can expect more care from politicians,’ says Geijtenbeek.
‘Voter fraud’
Zwart was shocked when Bennema first adjusted his motion (without nuclear waste storage) and eventually took it off the table completely. His initial support led to charges of ‘voter fraud’ by the Party for the Animals. The PvhN declared itself explicitly opposed to nuclear energy in its electoral program for the March parliamentary elections. That has not yet changed, Zwart defended himself: “We are not in favor of nuclear power plants in Groningen.”