4 days ago
Nuclear power on the rise except in UN watchdog's home Austria
From Belgium to Denmark, Bangladesh to Egypt - nuclear power is making a political and policy come-back and drew advocates from across the globe to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Vienna headquarters this week, though it remains less loved in the Austrian home of the UN agency.
With big tech looking at nuclear energy to power future AI operations and policymakers increasingly mulling the potential of small modular reactors – mini nuclear plants that could be factory built and power a small town, the International Atomic Energy Agency has noticed more and more countries interested in its expertise.
That is why the Vienna based nuclear watchdog invited representatives from across the globe to its headquarters this week for a convention to deep dive into the good, bad and ugly of what advocates call a very carbon friendly fuel.
"At the IAEA, we're seeing a number of member states that have expressed interest in nuclear power for several reasons related to growing energy demands, climate change and other national considerations," Matthew van Sickle, a senior nuclear power engineer told Euronews.
The IAEA offers expertise to member states on all the main challenges from financing to human resources to communication strategies to garner public support.
But in Austria, where the IAEA has been based since it came about it in 1957, a referendum in the 1970's resulted in the Austrian National Assembly passing a law prohibiting the use of nuclear energy in Austria. The outcome was an outstanding win for participatory democracy, but a major loss for the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant that cost €1 billion to build and was ready to operate.
Situated in Lower Austria alongside the river Danube, today the plant has become a quirky Homer Simpson inspired tourist attraction and the biggest nuclear training centre in the whole of Europe.
Peter Schinnerf, who works at the plant as a guide and a trainer, told Euronews the plant today has more emotional than financial worth.
Since 2017, the plant has also been hosting the annual Shut Down festival - a massive techno festival attracting revellers from all across Austria and beyond.
EU Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resilience, Jessika Roswall, says "anyone who wants to join in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Hungary should do so."
She was responding to the Hungarian government's decision to ban Gay Pride parades, a decision that has been heavily condemned by a majority of EU member states including France, Germany and Spain.
"The European Union is built on values, which, of course, we all stand behind, and this is the pressure we are in this union of – one of the key things is built of this precious value of people's freedom and loving whoever they want to, or rule of law and all these things," Roswall told Euronews.
"So I stand, of course, behind that and I myself have been to many prides, only in Stockholm though," she added.
Meanwhile, a European Commission source told Euronews that it's unlikely EU Commissioners will stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community as it could be seen to "provoke" Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and open the door to him accusing the EU of interfering in Hungarian affairs.
"I think it would play into Orbán's hands were senior people from Brussels to turn up," the source said.
However, law experts and some member states argue the European Commission is obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of EU citizens under Article 2 of the EU Treaty.
A group of 17 member states led by the Netherlands signed a declaration condemning the Hungarian decision.
We are "concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy," part of their statement read.
EU Commissioner of Justice and Rule of Law Michael McGrath has called freedom of assembly a fundamental right that must be protected.
He insisted that Pride marches do not constitute a threat to children, as the Hungarian parliament argued.
Meanwhile, Roswall says she does not want to make decisions for others but says that the issue is at the centre of her beliefs and the values of the 27-member bloc.
"I don't tell people what to do, but that's what I truly believe in, and that is also the core of the European Union," she explained.
The Budapest Pride event is set to take place on 28 June in defiance of the new law, and while several MEPs have indicated their intention to attend, no European Commissioners have.
