The Czech Republic has co-signed a declaration calling on the European Union to recognize nuclear energy as eco-sustainable energy. Credit: Freepik.
Czech Rep., Oct 13 (BD) – Ten member states of the European Union have asked for nuclear energy to be classified as environmentally sustainable in the EU’s upcoming technical green guide, which will help member states understand whether or not a project complies with the Paris climate agreement.
France is the leading country of the proposal, and the letter has been sent to the European Commission with the signatures of nine other EU countries that count nuclear as part of their national energy mix: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania.
The signatory countries argue that nuclear energy is on one hand more economically stable for European consumers, and on the other hand respect the parameters of the EU’s climate policy and a minimum set of social safeguards.
“Supply tensions will be more and more frequent and we have no choice but to diversify our supply. We should pay attention not to increase our dependency on energy imports from outside Europe,” states the declaration.
Another consideration is that more nuclear energy would make European countries less dependent on foreign countries, such as Russia, for their energy needs and supply.
Other countries, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain, argue the opposite: “We are concerned that including nuclear power in the taxonomy would permanently damage its integrity, credibility and therefore its usefulness,” they wrote in July.
Other activities that fall under the green taxonomy include solar, wind and hydrogen energy, hydroelectricity and bioenergy. Today, 26% of the energy produced in the EU comes from nuclear plants.
