Achievements, opportunities and challenges… what now for nucleareurope?

Yves Desbazeille, Director General, nucleareurope

When I joined nucleareurope – then FORATOM – in 2017, the European nuclear industry was in a very different place, facing many challenges, especially at political level. Seven years on the future looks much brighter. So as I prepare to hand over the reins to someone new, it is time to reflect on what we have achieved, and to look forward to new opportunities for nuclear, even if there are still certain challenges to overcome.  

During my tenure as Director General, the context for nuclear energy in Europe has evolved significantly. Public perception of nuclear across Europe has improved steadily, fuelled by concerns about energy costs, security of supply and a better understanding that all in all nuclear performs very well in many circumstances. This increase in public support for nuclear has triggered a political shift particularly at national level, with many EU Member States announcing plans to continue using or build new nuclear facilities.

At EU level, positive developments for nuclear in legislation took a bit longer to filter through, but over the last few years we have seen many successes, such as the inclusion of nuclear in the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, the review of the Electricity Market Design, the Net Zero Industry Act and more recently the launch of the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors. Beyond recent legislation, the latest developments at EU level give us hope: the number of pro-nuclear countries in the European Council continues to rise, and the newly elected European Parliament appears to be even more favourable to nuclear.

However, despite these undeniable positives, the nuclear industry still has an uphill battle to fight. Nuclear remains a divisive topic for the EU institutions, and the Euratom treaty unanimity requirement sometimes stands as a barrier to proactive supportive policies. Within the institutions themselves, support toward nuclear is still not a given, and what the new Commission really wants to achieve remains to be seen.

At the moment, despite ambitious targets expressed by many member States in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and through the Nuclear Alliance, certain barriers continue to hinder the development of nuclear capacity in Europe. Key examples include nuclear financing, supply chain and skills. A lot of work still needs to be done to ensure a conducive investment framework and to promote policies which support a European nuclear supply chain.

We will need to mobilise all concerned stakeholders, including energy intensive users such as the steel and chemicals industries, to gain support and increase our outreach. But I am confident that the very professional team working in the nucleareurope secretariat will continue to build on our past achievements, and succeed in these future endeavours.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our members for their enduring support throughout my mandate, our stakeholders for the role they have played in changing the narrative on nuclear, and the fantastic team working at the secretariat for having supported me over the years with good humour.