The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has defended the relaunch of nuclear energy in Europe and has announced a new European strategy to develop small modular reactors (SMR) with the aim that this technology be operational by early 2030. During her speech at the Nuclear Energy Summit held in Paris, Von der Leyen has assured that Europe needs to combine nuclear energy and renewables to guarantee affordable electricity, energy security, and industrial competitiveness.
According to the community president, the structurally high price of electricity in Europe affects both the cost of living of citizens and the competitive capacity of industry, at a time when technologies such as robotics or artificial intelligence will require large quantities of clean energy.
Europe depends on fossil fuel imports
Von der Leyen stressed that Europe is not a producer of oil or gas, which forces it to depend on "expensive and volatile" imports, a vulnerability that, she said, has become evident with the current crisis in the Middle East.
Facing this situation, he advocated for leveraging the low-carbon energy sources that do exist on the continent: renewable energies and nuclear. He recalled that in recent years the solar and wind energy have already surpassed fossil fuels in the European electricity mix, while nuclear's share has fallen from approximately one-third of European electricity in 1990 to about 15% today. He considers that this reduction was “a strategic error” for Europe.
A European strategy for deploying modular reactors
The European Commission presented at the summit a specific strategy for the development of small modular reactors, with the aim that this technology becomes part of the European energy system at the beginning of the 2030s. The plan includes three main lines of action.
First, the regulatory simplification through the creation of “regulatory sandboxes” so that companies can test innovative technologies, as well as working with Member States to align standards between countries.
Secondly, the mobilization of investments. Von der Leyen announced the creation of a guarantee of 200 million euros to support private investments in innovative nuclear technologies, financed with resources from the European emissions trading system.
Thirdly, the Commission opts for strengthening European cooperation to harmonize regulatory frameworks, accelerate permits and develop the necessary professional capacities in the sector.
Europe wants to lead the new nuclear race
The president of the Commission maintained that the world is experiencing a global rebirth of nuclear energy and affirmed that Europe wants to participate in that technological race.
In this context, recalled that the European Union has modified its State aid rules to expand support for nuclear fusion and has launched the first global industrial alliance dedicated to small modular reactors.
In addition, the Commission proposes to invest more than 5 billion euros in nuclear fusion research in the next European budget, especially through the ITER project.
Von der Leyen assured that Europe has a solid base to lead this technology, with half a million highly qualified workers in the nuclear sector, and advocated accelerating the development of this industry to turn the continent into a global hub for new generation nuclear energy.