A slim majority of MPs is opposed to the cabinet’s decision to have five different locations in the Netherlands checked out to see if they are suitable sites for new nuclear power stations, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

MPs from the ruling Labour party (PvdA) and ChristenUnie have sided with other left-wing opposition parties against the research, the paper says.
The locations under investigation are the Maasvlakte (near Rotterdam), Eemshaven (Groningen), Moerdijk (Brabant), the western Noordoostpolder and Borssele, where the Netherlands only nuclear power plant is currently situated.
Labour MP Diederik Samson told the paper that the research was a waste of energy in all senses. ‘Economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven still does not seem to have realised that the coalition agreement focuses on renewable energy sources,’ he said.
ChristenUnie MP Esmé Wiegman said she was irritated by the cabinet’s stand. ‘Nuclear power is not a sustainable energy source. You cannot get rid of the waste,’ she told the paper.
The coalition agreement says no new nuclear power stations will be built during this cabinet period.
However, Christian Democrat MP Liesbeth Spies said Van der Hoeven was being responsible to set up the study. ‘Nuclear power is not the first option, but you cannot shut the door on this source of energy just like that,’ she said.
If the sites are deemed suitable for a nuclear power station, it will affect local planning laws, the Volkskrant said. For example, no housing estates could be built near the sites.