By David Dolan
DDolan.com
Israeli government officials have been looking into ways to produce more electricity to meet their country’s growing energy needs. Currently, most power is generated by burning imported coal in two power plants located along Israel’s Mediterranean coastline. However coal produces lots of smoke, which negatively impacts the environment and adversely affects people with asthma and other breathing problems.
Some government ministers are advocating nuclear power as the cleanest and cheapest long term solution. One of them, Uzi Landau of the ruling Likud party, went to Paris in mid March to ask French leaders if they would help Israel construct several nuclear power plants in the coming years. France generates eighty per cent of its electricity from such plants. When Charles DeGaulle served as the president of France in the 1960s, he helped Israel build the Dimona nuclear power plant in the southern Negev Desert. However some Israeli officials say that building more nuclear power plants today might tempt some of Israel’s enemies to shoot missiles at them, potentially producing a poisonous Chernobyl style radiation release. Iranian supplied Hamas rockets landed not far from the Dimona reactor in January 2009.
Related Links
Israel Considers Atomic Energy Plant Possibilities - Global Security Newswire Israel studying options for nuclear power plant - Reuters Bill Gates Bets On Next-Gen Nuclear - Forbes Landau Takes Message of Energy Independence to AIPAC - Arutz Sheva Israel in Crisis: What Lies Ahead? - David Dolan (Book)
