European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned on Tuesday that Europe’s turn away from nuclear power had been a “strategic mistake” that was now uncovered by the Iran warfare.
“This reduction in the share of nuclear was a choice, I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power,” von der Leyen mentioned on the opening of a nuclear energy summit close to Paris.
“For fossil fuels, we are completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports. They are putting us at a structural disadvantage to other regions,” she added.
It comes because the US-Israeli war against Iran has broken main oil refineries and led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a transport route that could be a main chokepoint for the world’s oil provide.
Von der Leyen referred to as the warfare “a stark reminder” of the vulnerabilities that include being depending on fossil gas imports.
Von der Leyen, Macron name for vitality independence
At the summit, von der Leyen introduced a €200 ($230 million) fund for European nuclear innovation.
She mentioned that “while in 1990, one-third of Europe’s electricity came from nuclear, today it’s only close to 15%”.
Germany was one nation that aggressively wound down its nuclear generation within the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Its neighbor, France, continued to embrace the technology which now accounts for greater than two thirds of its electrical energy manufacturing.
“Nuclear power is key to reconciling both independence — and thus energy sovereignty — with decarbonization, and thus carbon neutrality,” French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned on the summit.
“We can see it in our current geopolitical context: when we are too dependent on hydrocarbons, they can become a tool of pressure, or even of destabilization.”
France has in recent times sourced a lot of its pure uranium from Kazakhstan, Australia, Namibia and politically volatile Niger .
According to EU nuclear company Euratom, Canada supplied 34% of the bloc’s pure uranium in 2024, the newest yr on report, adopted by Kazakhstan with 24% and Russia with round 15%.
What measures did EU leaders suggest?
Von der Leyen introduced a objective of rolling out small modular reactors (SMRs) throughout the EU by 2030 and harmonizing rules between member states.
Unlike conventional reactors which produce round 1,0000 megawatts (MW), SMRs produce round 300 MW however are extra reasonably priced and faster to construct as a result of they are often mass produced in factories.
“The logic is very clear. When it is safe to deploy, it has to be simple to deploy all across Europe,” von der Leyen mentioned.
Macron proposed standardizing reactor designs throughout Europe — a transfer that would profit France’s state-owned nuclear large EDF which has misplaced out on contracts in recent times.
In 2024, the Czech Republic awarded a tender to build a new power plant to South Korea’s KHNP, which France’s EDF tried and failed to dam in courtroom.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis mentioned his nation plans to “lead the conversation” on using nuclear power to decarbonize shipping.
Anti-nuclear protesters storm stage
Two Greenpeace activists stormed the stage firstly of the summit, interrupting Macron and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi as they had been greeting heads of state.
The protesters held banners that learn “Nuclear Power = Energy Insecurity” and “Nuclear power fuels Russia’s war.”
One of them requested Macron, “Why are we still buying uranium from Russia?” to which the president made the declare: “We produce nuclear power ourselves.”
French customs knowledge from 2025 confirmed that the nation imported 39% of its enriched uranium from Russia that yr.
Meanwhile, round a dozen Greenpeace activists additionally blocked automobiles as they arrived on the summit.
Edited by: Rob Turner
