Good news from Slovakia as the government announces it is postponing restarting the Bohunice V1 reactor after gas supplies were resumed.

Greenpeace have work hard in the last few days to show politicians and journalists just what a dangerous precedent restarting the reactor would have been, setting the example to other Eastern European countries that they could restart their own nuclear plants.

It would have taken at least a week before the reactor could have been restarted. It would have been a breach of international treaty and there is in fact no risk of electricity blackouts (which was confirmed both by Slovakia’s transmission grid operator and by all three of its regional distributors).

The last few days in Slovakia have been a dangerous distraction. The nuclear industry's spin is that it is the best solution to gas dependency. It can’t be stressed enough that the untapped potential of efficiency and domestic renewable sources can hugely cut the gas consumption in Slovakia and everywhere else. Pointless talk of restarting reactors diverts precious time and resources from those cheaper, easier and safer alternatives.