nuclear-news

France’s EDF and the global nuclear lobby sulking because Europe won’t accept their lie that nuclear power is “renewable”.

‘Not there yet’: France’s EDF frustrated with nuclear power’s status in EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act, By Frédéric Simon | EURACTIV.com 11 June 23,

Supporters of nuclear power in France have welcomed plans to scrap the two-tier approach to low-carbon technologies in the EU’s draft Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) but they also condemn the lower status granted to atomic energy as “incoherent” with the bloc’s wider decarbonisation goals.

Tabled by the European Commission in March, the NZIA aims to ensure Europe is capable of producing domestically at least 40% of the technologies it deems “strategic” to achieve its goal of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050.

But while nuclear energy was catalogued among the EU’s net-zero industries, it did not make it into the list of “strategic” technologies – such as wind, solar, batteries and electrolysers – that are eligible for the 40% domestic manufacturing benchmark, as well as quicker permitting procedures and looser EU state aid oversight.

Under the Commission’s proposal, only Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and “advanced technologies” producing energy from nuclear processes “with minimal waste from the fuel cycle” would be eligible for the ‘strategic’ label.

“The cutting-edge nuclear is in for specific fields, but not for all,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained after an EU summit in March, causing uproar among nuclear energy fans on social media.

Technological neutrality

Legislators are now examining the proposed NZIA regulation, with the European Parliament and EU member states aiming to reach an agreement on a joint text before the end of the year.

And for nuclear power advocates, the Parliament’s draft position on the regulation means more frustration, even though some see encouraging signs as well…………………………………..

EDF, the French state-owned electric utility, appears even more bitter, denouncing the “incoherence” of ignoring a mature technology like nuclear power, which emits almost no carbon dioxide, in a legislative text meant to promote zero-emission technologies.

“The only nuclear power included in the NZIA is the one which does not yet exist – Small Modular Reactors (SMRs),” said Erkki Maillard, senior vice president for EU affairs at EDF, which returned under full state ownership this week……………………………………..

Nuclear alliance

France is not alone in its quest to win recognition for nuclear power as a strategic net-zero technology.

Last month, a group of 16 European countries taking part in the French-led “nuclear alliance” signed a joint declaration in which they encouraged the European Commission “to recognise nuclear energy in the EU’s energy strategy” and promote “better conditions for the development and deployment of new nuclear energy capacity in the EU”.

………………………………………. Parliament lawmakers have until 19 June to table amendments to the NZIA regulation.

The Parliament’s industry committee, which has the lead on the matter, is scheduled to vote on the proposal on 12 October, before a plenary vote expected the following month. This will open the way for decisive talks with EU member states and the European Commission to finalise the law’s adoption.

June 14, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international