One year after its creation at the initiative of France, the Nuclear Alliance brought together 14 Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) at another meeting, along with Italy (as an observer) and Belgium .
In preparation for the Leader’s Nuclear Summit to be held on March 21st in Brussels, the European Nuclear Alliance met on Monday 4 March 2024 in the margin of the Energy Council. Ministers and representatives from all the 14 Member States took part in this meeting, as well as the European Commission. In line with the Declaration of the Nuclear Alliance on July 11th 2023, in Valladolid, called: “A new strategy on the use of Nuclear Energy for the European Union”, the Alliance acknowledges that positive results were achieved thanks to their unique cooperation.
In a joint press release, the countries of the alliance welcomed the recognition of the role of nuclear energy alongside renewable energy in decarbonisation objectives, and the launch of the European Alliance for Small Modular Reactors (SMR).
“Opinions have evolved on the energy transition and the question of the energy mix, with everyone recognising that technological neutrality is probably the best option and that the only thing that matters is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Now that we agree on that, we need to move on to the practical work, i.e. building energy capacity – whether renewable or nuclear – that we need to achieve our decarbonisation targets”- French Minister for the Economy, Bruno Le Maire said after the meeting.
The recognition of the role of nuclear energy alongside renewable energies and all sustainable energy solutions for decarbonization objectives, the latest example being the Net Zero Industry Act and the European Commission latest Communication on 2040 Climate objective which set the tone for a more technology neutral approach in EU policies.
The launch of the SMR Industrial Alliance by the European Commission which aim to accelerate the deployment of Small and Advanced Modular Reactors and ensure a strong EU supply chain, including a skilled workforce. The development, of net-zero technology markets of the future, such as SMRs, will be essential for energy resilience, decarbonization, cost-reduction, economic growth and reducing strategic dependencies.
Members of the Alliance agreed that the utmost importance that this SMR industrial alliance succeeds in: i) fostering industrial collaboration across the EU through concrete projects and, ii) designing proposals for the potential evolution of the overall framework to develop nuclear capacities and the entire value chain. They also agreed that the Nuclear Alliance will focus on evaluating the outcomes of this promising initiative on a regular basis.
However, one of the main difficulties remains access to funding. The members therefore discussed the idea of launching a specific working group to explore the options and benefits of funding instruments such as EIB support, the Innovation Fund.
They also called for an open discussion on broadening the European Hydrogen Bank to the production of ‘low carbon’ hydrogen from electrolysis.
After the meeting members of the Alliance declared that: „We are determined to pursue and intensify our cooperation in the European Nuclear Alliance format and encourage the European Commission to pursue its efforts in designing, an enabling framework for the deployment of nuclear energy and the accounting of its contribution, alongside renewable energy, to the decarbonization of the EU as soon as possible.”
