Catholic criticism on nuclear energy as ‘green’

Religion.orf reports this. The Katholische Aktion Österrreich (KAÖ) finds the decision of the European Commission concerning because it "downplays the dangers of nuclear power." According to the president of the KAÖ, nuclear power produces highly toxic waste, is expensive and high risk." Therefore, in his opinion, nuclear power plants should be phased out instead of promoted.

The council of the KAÖ argues that governments should not burden future generations with the storage of nuclear waste, the organisation states on its website. "This problem is not solved in any country. The amount of hazardous waste is increasing every year." According to the KAÖ, classifying nuclear power as sustainable is, therefore, a "facto false label."

Devastation by meltdown

In addition, the KAÖ finds the risks of nuclear energy too large to encourage its use. "The low probability argument is counteracted by the terrible widespread devastation a meltdown would cause. A disaster like that would cause extensive damage to densely populated areas of the EU and make whole areas uninhabitable for a long time."

According to Religion.orf, nuclear power is currently making a comeback in Europe. Many European countries need nuclear power to achieve their agreed climate targets. They, therefore, support the classification of nuclear plants as green. On the other hand, Austria and Germany decided to phase out nuclear energy.