Spain backtracks on nuclear power phase-out

MADRID (AFP)

“This was not an easy decision but it is a thought-out decision,” he told a news conference, adding the decision would allow for the preservation of jobs in the region at a time of high unemployment.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had vowed during general elections in 2004 and 2008 to gradually phase out nuclear power when the lifespan of the country’s six nuclear plants expired.

He pledged the country would focus instead on the development of renewable energy like solar and wind power.

AFP