Germany's nuclear hysteria ups power prices

Electricity prices in Central Europe have been on the rise for the past two weeks. The conservative daily Lidové noviny pins the blame on "Germany's nuclear hysteria": "Since Angela Merkel shut down the oldest German nuclear power plants the country has suddenly been left lacking six percent of its power needs. These will be met by purchasing electricity either here or in France. The profits of the Czech energy company ČEZ are growing rapidly, but so are normal households' electricity bills. And we could be in for worse. The EU has just resolved that there will be stress tests for all reactors on the continent. Not that there's anything wrong with safety standards. But when they're dictated by the German phobia there'll be no getting around further price hikes. Four out of ten European reactors are located on the coast, some just metres from the sea. If Germany demands tsunami security standards for the nuclear plants on the Mediterranean - a pure science-fiction scenario - then the days of most reactors are numbered."

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