Nuclear energy returns to the scene after the decision of the European Commission to include it in the sustainable investment taxonomy. According to data from the Nuclear Forum, there are 479 plants in the world in the project, which would mean double the current 443 reactors. Of this number 54 plants are under construction, 99 in planning and 326 proposals but the number may start to increase in Europe.
France is preparing to launch a new nuclear plan to help it cope with the market volatility electricity and maintain its high level of decarbonisation.
The state power company EDF has presented to the Government its proposal to build six reactors with EPR technology between 2035 and 2037 with an investment of 50,000 million that would come to replace to the 12 nuclear plants that will close in the country between now and 2035.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced after 40 years his intention to resume this nuclear program after a recent study carried out by RTE (the French Electricity Network) where the option of extending the life of the current plants and building new ones was defended.
The decision of the French Government coincides with a change in the tone that the European Commission maintained with these technologies (the European Council decided to stop financing gas infrastructures just a few weeks before) and that has opened a front similar to the one that occurred with the approval of the first part of the package Fit for 55 (FFF) last June or the one that is being experienced with the reform of the wholesale electricity market.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated in early December that Europe needed nuclear as a stable source of energy in addition to renewables, while gas would be necessary during the transition.
Ten European countries support its use to meet their emissions commitments
Von der Leyen It thus listened to the request of ten Member States (France, Romania, the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary) to include nuclear power in the taxonomy to meet their climate change commitments.
In Poland, Polish nuclear power plants (PEJ), The state-owned company is also advancing its policy of deploying six reactors at multiple sites by 2040.
EDF has made an offer to the Polish government to build up to six EPR units. The project would decarbonize 40% of electricity the country and avoid up to 55 million tons of CO2 per year. The submitted offer details the engineering, procurement and construction works that would be necessary for between four and six EPR units, at two or three sites. The EPR units would produce 1650 MWe each.
The Government has assured that it will provide financial support and has allocated 50 million
The coastal towns of Lubiatowo and Kopalino, in the Polish municipality of Choczewo, they have already been designated as the preferred location for the country’s first large nuclear power plant.
The Netherlands – which was not among the countries that claimed to include nuclear power in the taxonomy – is considering the construction of two reactors. The Government has assured that it will provide financial support and has allocated 50 million euros in 2023200 million in 2024 and 250 million in 2025.
On the other hand, Austria, which in June came to vote against the FFF and which warned of a blackout, has now threatened to take Europe to court if it implements this measure, which also has the fierce opposition of Spain, which remains unchanged its nuclear shutdown plan.
“The average death rate for nuclear energy is comparable to the rate for renewable energy”
Brussels upholds its decision on the work prepared by the Taxonomy Expert Group that commissioned a report to the Joint Research Center.
This analysis explained that the total impact of the life cycle of the nuclear generation on human healthBoth radiological and non-radiological, it is comparable to that of other technologies included in the taxonomy.
“In particular, the average death rate of nuclear energy is comparable to the rate of renewable energies and materially lower than that of fossil fuels. However, the peak death rates from nuclear power are somewhat higher, comparable to hydropower outside the OECD, “the report stated.
These steps forward by Brussels and France or Poland coincide with the closure of three German nuclear power plants
Said document, used by the Commission to endorse its proposal, states that serious accidents with core meltdown “are extremely rare; there have only been three in the history of the industry: Chernobyl (1985), Three Mile Island (1979) and Fukushima (2011). The reasons were different, and were subsequently addressed through tighter regulations and technical improvements. ” The report, however, also recalls that, although the scientific consensus on the nuclear waste disposal is that the storage in deep geological formations is sufficiently safe, this technology has not been widely applied in practice “
These steps forward by Brussels and France or Poland coincide with the closure of three German nuclear power plants. On December 31, Grohnde (1,360 MW), Gundremmingen (1,288 MW) and The Brockdorf (1,410 MW) were closed.
Nuclear shutdown
Germany closed the Biblis A and B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Krümmel, Neckarwestheim 1, Phillipsburg 1 and Unterweser nuclear power plants in August 2011 and at the end of this year the Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 plants will stop producing, thus giving by closed all its nuclear facilities.
Belgium signed the September 30, 2020 an agreement reaffirming its policy of phasing out nuclear power by 2025.
According to the plan, Doel 3 and Tihange 2 will be closed in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 plants will do so in 2025. However, the agreement requires a report on the security of supply, the impact on prices of electricity due to the elimination of nuclear power and the planned implementation of a capacity market. If the report – which should be in November this year – shows supply problems, the government would review plans to maintain 2 GWe of nuclear capacity. This could pave the way for the extension of the useful life of Doel 4 and Tihange 3. However, the intention is to replace this capacity with 6 GW of natural gas plants.
Alexander De Croo, Belgian Prime Minister, stressed that SMRs are a technology that he will continue to support. You plan to invest 100 million for four years to emphasize smaller modular reactors, cooperating with France and the Netherlands.
Construction delays
Finland managed on December 21 to start the first EPR in Europe: Olkiluoto 3 (OL3). This plant is the first to be commissioned in the country in more than 40 years and will end up producing around 14% of the country’s electricity, which is already analyzing a second project: Hanhikivi.
According S&P, Europa It has experienced serious problems in the construction of nuclear power plants in recent years.
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