Project description

To mark the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) in cooperation with the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at the Freie Universität Berlin and the European East-West Academy for Culture and the Media (EOWA) planed to launch a series of events themed “Chernobyl +20” .

As part of this series of events, the Federal Environment Ministry together with the FFU organised a conference on environmental and energy policy: “Chernobyl 1986 - 2006: Lessons for the Future”. Moreover, an interdisciplinary series of lectures, a children’s university and an edition on the role of nuclear power and energy policies in an international comparison were launched.

Conference on Environment and Energy Policy:
The Chernobyl disaster triggered off many learning processes and changes in society, politics, science and culture. It remains a key factor for the strategic orientation of energy policy also in Germany. Further focal points of these events were opinions and facts on the alleged renaissance of nuclear power, safety at nuclear power plants and the growing risks by outdated facilities and terrorism. The conference on environmental and energy policy addressed the future task of an energy policy that minimises risks and protects the environment, but also focused on issues that were increasingly neglected in current discussions on energy policy: What are the impacts of the accident on ecosystems and the food chain? Is it possible to rule out a similar disaster in future? How have civil protection and information structures between administrations, countries and the public changed since Chernobyl and are these changes sufficient? Is there a critical lack of nuclear power expertise?

Publications

Tews, Kerstin (2006): Tschernobyl – eine politische Spurensuche. Zusammenfassung der Podiumsdiskussion mitSigmar Gabriel, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke, Swetlana Alexijewitsch, Prof. Dr. Edmund Lengfelder und Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Müller, in: BMU (Hrsg.), Energiepolitik 20 Jahre nach Tschernobyl. Dokumentation der Tagung „Tschernobyl 1986-2006: Erfahrungen für die Zukunft“.
http://www.bmu.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/tagung_20jahre_tschernobyl.pdf