On Tuesday, March 15, 2011, President Hugo Chavez announced that he is halting Venezuela’s joint project with Russia to build a nuclear energy plant in Venezuela, an agreement that was signed in October of 2010. Venezuela currently has no nuclear energy plants.
As reported at venezuelanalysis.com/news/6070 Chavez's announcement came as Japan continues its struggle to contain the fires and radiation leaks from the six nuclear reactors at Fukishima which were damaged by the recent earthquake and tsunami.
In stopping the newly initiated nuclear program, Chavez stated that:
“What has been taking place in the last few hours represents an enormous risk and threat to the entire world... “Even with all of the great technology and advances that the Japanese have…just look at what is happening with some of those nuclear reactors,”
In response, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos praised Chavez's decision as a “timely preventative gesture” Santos called on the international community to seek out alternative energies.
In signing the agreement with Russia last October, President Chavez stated that Venezuela has the right to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful uses, noting that
"Brazil has several nuclear reactors, as does Argentina. We will also have our own reactor,"Chávez said. Last year, Venezuela suffered from a serious electricity shortage, causing blackouts throughout the country, due to a lack of rain sufficient to keep its largest dam and primary source of electricity operating fully. Thus Chavez looked to nuclear energy as an alternative source.
The reaction to Venezuela's October 2010 agreement with Russia for assistance was swift from right-wing U.S. politicians, such as U.S. Congressmen Connie Mack (R–Fla). Mack called the bi-lateral nuclear agreement, “extremely troubling,” and charged that “Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is not a man who can be trusted with nuclear energy.” Republican Congressman Mack has long been an out-spoken foe of Venezuela's democratically elected president.
The venezuelanalysis article notes that "According to a 2010 document release by the U.S. Defense Department, the United States currently maintains an arsenal of 5,113 nuclear warheads." Venezuela has no nuclear arsenal whatever.
But, as Japan continues to battle for control of its reactors to avoid damage of cataclysmic proportions, Republican politicians persist in calling for more new nuclear reactors in the U.S., a position that has been echoed by President Obama, even since the severe damage to the Fuishima reactors has unfolded.