2023-04-16 09:17:33
On the French side, most people do not believe in the success of the German energy strategy which aims for 100% renewables by 2035 and plans to double its gas-fired power station fleet by then. Above all, the repeated attacks by Germany, and its allies such as Luxembourg and Austria, against nuclear power are getting worse and worse. Just like the attitude considered dogmatic of the European Commission on the subject.
“Prohibiting the use of nuclear power, which is an energy that emits less carbon than photovoltaics or wind power, is a climaticidal and absurd position”, released Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the Minister of Energy Transition, in early February. A month later, she recalled, in a daily interview Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungthat with less than 1% coal, the French electricity mix emits 46 grams of CO2/kWh, where Germany is at 315 grams.
In the EU, the end of “shameful nuclear”
Since the French government committed last year to the construction of 6 to 14 new reactors by 2050, the time of the “shameful nuclear”, which dominated between 2012 and 2022 with the Fessenheim shutdown and the law on the reduction of the fleet, seems well and truly over.
In February, France even relaunched a “nuclear alliance”, with ten other countries of the European Union (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). Sweden is likely to join them in July, when its EU presidency comes to an end. It should also be noted that Belgium and Italy participated in the last meeting as observers.
Give more visibility
“This structure has existed informally for a long time, but France has become the leader and wants to give it more visibility.explains Yves Desbazeille, the general manager of the Nuclear Europe association, based in Brussels. It is a political message to say that these countries will no longer allow anything to happen. » He recalls that, five years ago, nuclear power appeared in certain European texts as an activity to be banned, in the same way as tobacco and sex trafficking.
Today, the number of projects is multiplying in Europe, even if it is still mainly announcements. Only France, Finland, Slovakia and Hungary have work in progress.
But the list should quickly grow. Last year, Poland chose the American Westinghouse to build three AP-1000 reactors in the north of the country, and the Czech Republic launched its tender for a reactor, to which the French, the Americans and Corean people. For these two Member States, nuclear power will greatly reduce the share of coal. In the same vein, Romania is discussing with the American NuScale a project for a small modular reactor (small modular reactoror SMR).
The hostility of the antinuclear
In other countries, the revival of nuclear power is a turning point, linked to the arrival of a new coalition in power. This is the case in Sweden, which has until now relied on 100% renewables, even if the six reactors in operation still represent 30% of the electricity produced.
Ditto in the Netherlands, where the authorities want to get out of gas quickly without however betting solely on offshore wind power. The country has only one reactor left in operation, which it also wishes to extend beyond sixty years, that is to say after 2033, and wants to build two more.
But for the supporters of nuclear power, the headwinds are still numerous, especially within the European administration. «We are no longer persona non grata, but not yet darlings. In any case, we are asked to participate in meetings, which is already a great improvement», notes Yves Desbazeille, evoking a “everyday battle”, despite a more favorable perception of the civilian atom by public opinion.
Nuclear was thus included with difficulty last year in the European taxonomy, which classifies economic activities having a favorable impact on the environment. And his opponents have not said their last word, in particular on the public financing of the next reactors.
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