Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos warns that Japan’s crisis is a “wake-up call” for countries using nuclear energy.
“The crisis of the Fukushima nuclear plant — which we hope will turn out positively — is a wake-up call for all countries using that kind of energy, which is extremely sensitive to human error or natural disasters,” said Santos in a press release on the presidential website.
At the “Thinking Green: economic strategy for the 21st century,” forum in Bogota which was attended by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, the Colombian president welcomed Tuesday’s announcement by his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez that he would “freeze” a program to build a nuclear power plant in Venezuela.
Santos said that, especially in light of the nuclear disaster in Japan, it is time to foster the use of alternative energy sources and sustainable development that will not jeopardize the survival of the planet.
“In Colombia we are aware of the problem of global warming and our own environmental wealth and this obliges us to maintain an unwavering committment to implement concrete actions for the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change,” Colombias’ head of state added.
The Japanese power plant has suffered two explosions in three days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck the island nation Friday. Technicians are battling to stabilize a third reactor to avoid a nuclear meltdown.
