Thirty-seven national delegations finally met in Brussels (see EUROPE 13375/20) on Thursday 21 March to exchange views and convey the message that nuclear energy has an “essential” role to play in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and to argue in favour of its funding, at the first-ever global summit devoted to nuclear energy.
Although this event had been planned prior to COP28, which took place in December 2023 (see EUROPE 13313/16), as explained by the Belgian Prime Minister and co-organiser of the event, Alexander De Croo, the climate meeting in Dubai provided a global impetus.
A new international stance
At COP, 153 national governments, including the EU, recognised the role of nuclear power – alongside renewable energies – in achieving climate neutrality, thanks to its low carbon footprint.
On this occasion, 22 leaders also agreed on a target of tripling installed nuclear capacity by 2050. It currently accounts for around 10% of the world’s electricity production.
“Some countries will triple, others will double, but we don’t expect all countries to do so”, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the other co-chair of the summit and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the press.
In his view, this summit became possible because the discourse on nuclear power has changed, more than 12 years after the accident at the Fukushima power station in Japan.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago in particular changed the situation and prompted several governments to reverse their decisions on the decommissioning of certain nuclear power stations in order to promote their energy sovereignty.
Mr De Croo also called for a turn “to science” and a move away from the ideological considerations and polarisation still present in the debate on reviving nuclear power.
Competitiveness and innovation
He went on to welcome the over 300 business leaders and industry representatives present and said that it was time for “this industry to open up” further.
In his speech, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said he was proud that within the EU, each Member State could choose its own energy mix, and stated that nuclear power had a major role to play in the EU’s strategic autonomy.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, focused on innovation, in particular the development of small modular reactors (SMRs).
“SMRs are a promising technology and a race is on. (...) More than 80 projects around the world are moving forward, and several of our Member States have expressed a keen interest in SMRs”, she said.
Support from the international financial system
The summit led to the adoption of a declaration in which participants pledged to create “a fair and open global market environment for nuclear power development to promote exchanges and cooperation among countries”, with the IAEA at the centre of this global cooperation.
With regard to financing, the signatories invite in particular multinational development banks, international financial institutions and competent regional bodies to support the appropriate conditions for the development of nuclear energy.
John Podesta, a senior innovation advisor to US President Joe Biden, explained on his arrival at the summit that the United States supported “the French initiative to encourage the World Bank and other development banks to remove restrictions on nuclear financing”.
Dependence on Russia
The EU and the United States are still dependent on enriched uranium from Russia and are trying to diversify their supplies.
At a press conference, Mr De Croo and Mr Grossi acknowledged that this was a major challenge and that work was underway, but that it was also necessary to be able to “balance things out”.
“If we want to decarbonise, if we want to reduce CO2, we have to ensure that our nuclear power plants continue to operate”, said Mr De Croo, without going into further detail.
European Nuclear Alliance
As part of this event, the member countries of the Nuclear Alliance within the EU, led by France (see EUROPE 13375/20), signed an accompanying declaration in which they called for a reduction in strategic dependencies, in particular on Russian suppliers. The aim is to establish “a strong European nuclear industry and guarantee the security of supply of nuclear materials, particularly nuclear fuel, for power and non-power uses”.
These countries also want large-scale reactors, SMR technologies and the associated European value chain to benefit from funding instruments such as support from the EIB and the Innovation Fund.
Protests from environmental organisations
Opposite the summit, a number of environmental organisations protested against an initiative that they saw as “a climate-friendly facade”.
In addition, 500 global organisations signed a joint declaration explaining that the rapid move away from fossil fuels should instead focus on the development of a 100% renewable energy system, combined with energy efficiency.
Some, such as Greenpeace, consider that the target of tripling nuclear power is unattainable, but also that nuclear projects are often faced with huge budget overruns and cancellations.
Finally, the signatory organisations believe that “from mining for uranium to radioactive waste, nuclear power production is a risk to people’s health, safety, and the environment”.
Next summit in France
Several participants at the summit wondered about whether a similar event will be organised in the future. In response, French President Emmanuel Macron indicated late this afternoon, via X (formerly Twitter), that the next Nuclear Energy Summit would take place in France. No date has yet been set.
To see the summit declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/bgp
To see the declaration of the European Nuclear Alliance: https://aeur.eu/f/bgq
To see the statement from 500 organisations: https://aeur.eu/f/bgo (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)