Controversial new EU plans face nuclear roadblock — here's how it could impact global electrical grids

Yahoo

26-01-2025

In the European Union, the political divide between pro-nuclear member states and the governments fighting atomic energy isn't new. Only now, it's hampering efforts by the 27-member bloc to plan for a new renewable energy target, Reuters reported.
Between the countries backing nuclear power to reduce the energy sector's heat-trapping pollution and those hammering home that the toxic waste it produces makes it everything but "green," the EU's new renewables goal for 2040 is unlikely to win unanimous support.
French ecological transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told Reuters that at a recent meeting of 15 EU countries — 12 of them being part of a pro-nuclear alliance — ministers had expressed concerns that the target excluded nuclear power.
As quoted by the news agency, Sweden energy minister Ebba Busch, who attended the meeting, asked: "Is it more important to have a specific target for renewables ... where you can tamper with statistics, for example, by closing down nuclear power plants? Or is the main target fossil-free and clean energy production in Europe?"
Of all the concerns that arise over atomic energy, safety often comes first.
Opponents fear that the radioactive waste will have far-reaching consequences on the environment and human health; however, only a small volume of such waste is long-lived and highly radioactive, according to the World Nuclear Association. With the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents anchored in collective memory, they also serve as reminders that serious incidents can happen despite strict safety requirements. More recently, critics have questioned Europe's reliance for nuclear fuel or uranium on external suppliers like Russia, per Montel News.
These arguments have convinced many — and without mentioning the elevated cost and duration of building a nuclear plant.
On the other hand, proponents recall that the risk of accidents is extremely low, and the sector as a whole is one of the most secure. Besides, nuclear power provides a reliable electricity supply at a time when geopolitical conflicts are reshaping energy markets and countries scrambling to meet national needs. As the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre explains, it is finally a low-carbon alternative energy source to fossil fuels, whose phase-out the world struggles to agree on, one climate summit after the other.
While France makes plans for additional nuclear reactors, Germany has chosen to fire up old coal plants. While Bulgaria and Poland bet on expanding their nuclear fleet, Spain and Switzerland get ready to phase theirs out.
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According to a senior official, governments with enough votes to block the EU from passing the renewable energy target said that they would not support it if it excluded nuclear. "I think there's enough, in terms of a blocking minority," the official told Reuters.
Dan Jorgensen, the EU energy commissioner, said that renewables and nuclear power would both play a role in Europe's energy policy, but they should not be mixed into one objective as it wouldn't be "a wise way to do it," according to Reuters. "I think we need to maintain the definitions that we already have in our renewable target."
If a reconciliation of European governments over nuclear power appears impossible, their sole reliance on renewables is, too.
Among solutions, the Atlantic Council is proposing that EU member states sign a peace pact, or "a political neutrality agreement … that affirms that each state is free to choose its own energy mix, as is defined by the treaties, stops interference in these policies, and affirms there is no right to block member states wishing to launch, expand, or simply conserve their nuclear capacity."
Meanwhile, all sides will also likely have to acknowledge the role of both nuclear and renewable energy in reaching pollution reduction targets because — to answer Busch — the main priority is and should remain a fossil fuel-free Europe.
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