$ Chernobyl. In little more than a month, the name of a once obscure Soviet plant has become a global household word, a new entry on the list of late-20th century technological disasters and a rallying cry for all those who fear and oppose nuclear power. The April 26 explosion and fire that destroyed reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine spread radioactive fallout around much of the world. Now the accident is transforming the East-West political climate and perhaps altering diplomatic relations between the U.S. and its European allies.
In the Netherlands last week, nuclear questions played a key role in the most widely watched Dutch election in years. During the campaign, Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers eased his stance on atomic power. Despite a strong commitment to expanding his country's nuclear capacity, Lubbers shrewdly delayed construction of two new plants following the Chernobyl calamity. That relieved Dutch anxieties aroused by the Soviet tragedy, and helped Lubbers' Christian Democrat party to score big gains.
In Austria, as the country's presidential campaign winds to an end, even the furor over Conservative Candidate Kurt Waldheim's wartime Nazi links has been overshadowed by the question of atomic power. Socialist Kurt Streyer, who faces Waldheim in a runoff June 8, stresses his commitment in new posters that proclaim, NO SECOND CHERNOBYL. Waldheim, the former United Nations Secretary-General, says he will use his diplomatic experience to get an international agreement on early and complete warning in case of atomic power accidents.
Nuclear questions may influence an election June 15 in the West German state of Lower Saxony. Social Democrat Gerhard Schroder, a candidate for minister-president, calls the vote a "people's referendum on nuclear power." Feelings on the issue are running high. Earlier this month, riot police battled demonstrators protesting the construction of a radioactive waste dump in the village of Gorleben.
The shadow of Chernobyl affects much more than the future of nuclear power. It also raises questions about Western Europe's defense. The disaster has increased doubts about anything having to do with atomic technology; this threatens to create more rifts between the U.S. and its European allies, particularly about the installation of nuclear weapons. Says a senior West German official: "The political scale of Chernobyl is equal to the force of the accident itself. We know that people equate the threat of nuclear accidents with the disastrous potential of nuclear weapons."
Parties like West Germany's Greens, who have long opposed the stationing of U.S. missiles in Europe, are capitalizing on such fears and arguing against anything and everything nuclear with renewed vigor. Last week the Greens adopted a two-pronged program calling on Bonn to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and abolish nuclear power. "The connection is obvious," says Uwe Nehrlich, director of West Germany's Research Institute for International Politics and Security.