By IANS/EFE,
Mexico City : Mexican officials inspected the country’s only nuclear power plant following the nuclear crisis in Japan. They said the facility was safe.
The Laguna Verde nuclear plant is located on the Gulf of Mexico coast in Veracruz state.
“After completing a thorough inspection of the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, we can say that it is safe,” Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte wrote on his Twitter account.
“We have full guarantees from the federal government, the energy secretariat and the Federal Electricity Commission that Laguna Verde is in top operating condition,” he said.
“We have a nuclear power plant that is fine and all the safeguards are in place, which allows society in Veracruz to not worry,” Duarte said.
Greenpeace Mexico, meanwhile, said that while Germany, Austria, China, Chile, Switzerland and Venezuela have decided to review their nuclear plans in light of the situation in Japan, Mexico proposes to move ahead with plans to construct between two and 10 reactors over the next 17 years.
Laguna Verde had earlier experienced 37 shutdowns between 2000 and 2007. The shutdowns were due to different problems with the reactors, reports from the National Nuclear Safety Commission said.
Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant was damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit that country. There were explosions at three reactors while a fire engulfed a fourth reactor.