EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger told a press conference by the European Commission this week that despite a critical report on nuclear reactor safety standards ‘'generally the situation is satisfactory', and closures will not be required.

"National safety authorities came to the conclusion that no closure of nuclear power plants was warranted," the EC said as it published its report on the results of EU-wide nuclear safety stress tests.



"The standards of safety of nuclear power plants in Europe are generally high, but further improvements in the safety features of almost all European nuclear power plants are recommended," the EC added.

But Oettinger added  that operators would need to spend between Eur10-25 billion ($12.9-32.3 billion) on technical improvements to address safety concerns uncovered by the tests.

The stress tests, which included international experts carrying out spot tests of plants, took place in co-operation with the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group, made of member states' national safety authorities.

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