nuclear-news

Germany, Italy highlight growing European nuclear divide

By Federica Pascale and Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.com and EURACTIV.it

Germany’s place as the leader of Europe’s anti-nuclear lobby has been further solidified as Chancellor Olaf Sholz doubled down on his view that nuclear has no place in the country’s energy mix, while Italy has vowed to speed up its integration of nuclear energy in a bid to cut costs, save the economy, and power the Green Transition.

Nuclear power is controversial as some countries have embraced it, while others have considered it more of a risk than it is worth. Its inclusion by the European Commission as a green energy source in the Taxonomy Regulation further laid bare divisions across Europe as countries bickered over whether it could truly be considered green and sustainable………………………………………………………..

In an interview with radio station Dlf on Saturday, Scholz stressed using nuclear power in Germany’s energy mix is no longer an option.

“In Germany today, the topic of nuclear power is a dead horse,” the Social Democrat said.

“Whoever would want to build new power plants would take 15 years and would have to spend 15 to 20 billion per unit,” he added.

Scholz’s remarks come after representatives of the FDP, the chancellor’s liberal coalition partner, called to stop the dismantling of reactors that are still usable to reactivate them.

“This is the only way to remain capable of acting in any situation,” Christian Dürr,
 https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/germany-italy-highlight-growing-european-nuclear-divide/

September 6, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international