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.
