By Adam Peaker
With mounting pressure on Europe to strengthen its energy security and the acute reliability issues highlighted by the recent Iberian blackout, the German government has recently dropped its decades-long opposition to nuclear power, representing a seismic shift in European nuclear energy policy.
In a joint editorial in French newspaper Le Figaro, new German chancellor Friedrich Merz and French president Emmanuel Macron vowed to pursue an energy policy of “climate neutrality, competitiveness and sovereignty”, implicitly including nuclear power in a basket of ‘sustainable’ energy sources.
Nuclear energy in Europe
One quarter of Europe’s electricity is generated by nuclear power, with half of this coming from France’s capacity alone.
In the wake of the oil crisis in the 1970s, France sought to guarantee its energy independence with a massive nuclear power rollout.
However, given Cold War fears around nuclear weaponry and the effects of the Chernobyl disaster biting at public opinion, much of Europe turned away from nuclear power.
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Energy security in Europe today
Nowadays, energy security is once again at the top of Europe’s agenda.
Sanctions on Russian gas in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine left Europe scrambling for a viable alternative.
The recent Iberian blackout – plunging Portugal, Spain, and parts of France into darkness – was also a reminder of the fallibility of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Spain has since decided to reverse its planned phaseout of nuclear, prompting Belgium to scrap its phaseout plans and Denmark to consider reversing its 40-year ban on nuclear power.
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Germany’s shift
The day after his election as the new German chancellor, Merz dropped the nation’s staunch opposition to the energy source in a joint press conference with Macron.
“To ensure our energy sovereignty while respecting national choices, we are calling for an end to all discrimination at European level against low-carbon energies, whether nuclear or renewable”, said Macron at the conference in Paris.
This shift has come despite Germany’s final three nuclear plants closing in 2023.
Germany had been a vocal critic of the inclusion of atomic energy in an EU-wide scheme to promote ‘green’ energy.
Whether or not this will see any change in German law to allow for new plants to be built in the country is not yet known.
In any case, the first new plants to become operational in the wake of this U-turn across Europe could be over a decade away.
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