Italy to China: four countries sidelining nuclear power

Italians voted in a referendum vote yesterday to put a lid on nuclear power indefinitely, derailing one of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s efforts to restart nuclear energy in Italy. Nuclear energy was first abandoned in a 1987 referendum vote after the Chernobyl nuclear accident and Italy shuttered its four nuclear power plants soon after. The recent referendum vote extends a moratorium on nuclear plans that was imposed after Japan’s nuclear crisis.

Berlusconi had hoped to relaunch the shelved nuclear program – one of the first in the world used for power supply only – by building several nuclear power plants. In 2009, he reached out to France for assistance with the construction of four new plants. The first one was slated for completion by 2020.

The country lacks many natural energy resources and imports 86 percent of its energy supply, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Berlusconi said Monday, as the results of the referendum became clear, that if Italy opted to abandon nuclear energy, it was going to need to make a stronger commitment to renewable energy.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2011/0614/Italy-to-China-four-countries-sidelining-nuclear-power/Italy

France, Italy Seek Tighter Borders

ROME—The leaders of France and Italy called on the European Union to overhaul its border policy in an effort to stop the influx of migrants unleashed by North African unrest, but failed to reach a concrete agreement over how Europe should handle the wave.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a joint letter at the end of a summit here on Tuesday that pressed the EU to reinforce patrols of European borders and stem the flow of migrants from Tunisia and Libya.

The letter stopped short, however, of making concrete demands, ducking the thorniest issue facing Europe: What to do about the more than 25,000 migrants who have already landed on Italian shores, many with plans to hopscotch across the Continent to richer economies.

Instead, the summit seemed to underscore the EU's lack of a common policy on immigration. That policy vacuum has led to clashes between France and Italy over the past month as migrants, after reaching the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, which is off the coast of Tunisia, have begun making their way toward the French border.

France, in an attempt to wall off the flow of migrants, has resurrected patrols and checkpoints along its border with Italy


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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703956904576286930610634842.html