Spiegel Interview with Klaus Töpfer: 'We Must Invent a Future without Nuclear Energy'

'We Must Invent a Future without Nuclear Energy' Former UN Environment Program chief Klaus Töpfer discusses the new nuclear energy consensus, the global hunger for energy and the leading role played by Germany in creating a world without atomic power. SPIEGEL: Mr. Töpfer, shortly before you took office as Germany's environment minister, you said: "We must invent a future without nuclear energy." Now, 21 years later, nuclear power is on the verge of making a comeback in Germany. Are you disappointed? Töpfer: The only reason this debate has come to the fore is that a dramatic rise in the global thirst for energy, especially in countries like China and India, has led to exploding prices in the West. The emerging nations want to participate in economic growth. As a result, people in industrialized nations like Germany are now... [read full story]