Look at the recent announcement I found on nuclear in...

Look at the recent announcement I found on nuclear in Europe...Shell is probably right in saying that gas is the only option for Europe now. Go EPG go!!

"Nuclear power retreats in Germany, Switzerland, Italy

The German government, under pressure from anti-nuclear voters, announced Monday that it will close down all 17 of the nation's nuclear plants by 2022. Those reactors now provide about 23 percent of German generating capacity.

In March, Germany closed eight reactors immediately following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expects solar and wind power to provide up to 35 percent of German power by 2020; in 2010, the country made a startling 17 percent of its power from renewable sources. Meanwhile, efficiency improvements are planned to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent. In the short term, some of the shortfall from shuttered nuclear capacity will be made up by burning more coal and natural gas, creating a spike in the country's carbon emissions.

The Swiss government last week announced plans to halt construction of new nuclear plants, and to retire the country's five nuclear reactors as their permits come up for renewal. The first plant to close will shut down in 2019, and Switzerland will be nuclear-free by 2034. The nukes make about 40 percent of the country's power, with nearly all the rest coming from hydroelectric dams. The government outlined no specific plan to replace the nuclear plants with new carbon-free sources, but a national program of upgrades is already under way to increase the capacity of existing hydro dams.

Italy will hold a national referendum on June 12-13 on nuclear power. Italians voted in 1987 to close down their reactors, in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. The Berlusconi government planned to build new nuclear capacity beginning in 2014, and the referendum is widely expected to halt that program