Editorial

Management of Environmental Quality

ISSN: 1477-7835

Article publication date: 9 August 2011

312

Citation

Leal Filho, W. (2011), "Editorial", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 22 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2011.08322eaa.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 22, Issue 5

Welcome to a further issue of MEQ. As always, we are happy to present readers with a very comprehensive set of international papers around the issue of environmental management and environmental quality, from both industrialised and developing countries.

On this editorial I would like to comment on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine. Since Chernobyl, the risks of nuclear power have been extensively debated. The role of nuclear power in the world has again being questioned after the Fukushima accident in Japan, earlier this year. For many people, Chernobyl (and now Fukushima) are reminders of the long term consequences if things go wrong.

In a statement Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azaroz said that Chernobyl had cost the country’s economy about US$180 billion. During many years, the government had to spend up to 10 percent of its budget to finance relief efforts. The Chernobyl site continues to pose a threat. A summit of international donors agreed to spend €550 million to build a new safe confinement over the damaged reactor.

Many groups now call for a moratorium on new reactors and immediate plans to close down existing plants posing a high risk. Also, the importance of conducting thorough safety tests in areas neighbouring the EU, is now being underlined. Several studies on the downside of nuclear have emerged. The Worldwatch Institute has for example claimed that the sector faced a rapid decline, adding renewables were more attractive because they are cheaper and can be more quickly deployed and decommissioned.

MEQ will be following closely the developments in this field, and shall report to its readers on current and future progress.

Enjoy your reading!

Walter Leal Filho

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