Medical advances, decarbonising steel: EU nuclear technology

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 7 - Nuclear energy is triggering many debates - also among member states of the European Union. Still, the bloc is looking at nuclear technology, partly in a bid to achieve its climate goals. Dutch innovation aims at reusing nuclear waste and a Franco-Italian cooperation wants to speed up the decarbonisation of the emission-heavy steel industry.
    "Nuclear technologies can play an important role in clean energy transitions," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the first-ever Nuclear Energy Summit in March. The summit had been set up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Belgium.
    The German conservative pointed out that she was aware that "there are different views" in the EU on nuclear power. She added that "many countries are giving a fresh look to the potential role that nuclear might play" in the wake of "the global energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine". It could contribute to climate goals, energy security and stabilising energy prices, according to von der Leyen.
    The projections of the International Energy Agency and the European Commission for 2050 show that nuclear power will grow and function as a complement to renewables which "will be the backbone of EU power production by 2050", she said.
    However, this energy source has declined both in the EU and in the world: Across the planet it has gone from 18 percent of the electricity "mix" in 1988 to nine percent today. In the EU, its use is currently around 22 percent when in the 1990s it still generated a third of Europe's electricity.
    Von der Leyen positioned herself in favour of extending the life of the nuclear plants in use "provided of course their safe operation", as it is "one of the cheapest ways to secure clean power at scale".
    The European Council included nuclear energy among the strategic technologies for climate neutrality and as a way to accelerate the reduction of emissions it was incorporated in the conclusions document of the last Climate Summit (COP28) - a historic first.
    Nuclear energy has been gaining space in the financial treatment it receives in the EU, but it still does not enjoy the same sympathies as renewables.
    (Some) EU member states demand more money for nuclear energy In March, the twelve EU member states grouped in the European Nuclear Alliance demanded more financing for nuclear energy and asked that financial institutions treat it the same as renewable energy.
    "All net-zero technologies including nuclear energy and value chain should be leveraged, possibilities and benefits of financing instruments such as support of the EIB [European Investment Bank] and Innovation Fund will be explored to that end," said the alliance's statement after the first Nuclear Energy Summit.
    Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Sweden commit to "developing access to private and public financing, and exploring the possibilities and benefits of European financing instruments".
    They point out as a specific objective "to support large-scale reactors, SMR technologies and [the] associated European value chain" with atomic energy, which requires enriched fuel and radioactive waste management systems, among others.
    The alliance launched in 2023 to support a source for generating energy that EU member states Germany, Luxembourg, Spain or Denmark are not in favour of.
    In Germany, the last three nuclear power plants went offline in April 2023 - but the calls for a return to nuclear energy are growing louder.
    In December 2023, the Spanish government approved the 7th General Radioactive Waste Plan which establishes the government's policy on the management of radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuel, and the dismantling and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. It also established a timetable for the closure of nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035.
    However, there are also opponents to the closure, for example the president of Foro Nuclear, Ignacio Araluce. He said that the plants "are necessary for the system" and that Spain "is being left alone" in his idea of closing nuclear power plants.
    EU support for the production of mini reactors The European Commission actively supports the development of small modular reactors, within a technological race in which the EU lags behind China, the United States and Russia.
    The European Industrial Alliance on SMR was launched last February by the European Commission together with the recommendation on the intermediate climate target for 2040, underlining the potential of atomic energy among the low-carbon technologies that can help the EU cut emissions. The initiative brings together governments, industry players and stakeholders seeking to accelerate the development of the sector.
    Small modular reactors are nuclear reactors that are smaller in both power and physical size compared to traditional gigawatt-scale power plants.
    Dutch innovation plans to reuse nuclear waste Dutch start-up Thorizon will receive a ten million Euro grant from the French government. With this, the Amsterdam-based company wants to accelerate the development of a small nuclear reactor that uses nuclear waste from regular power plants as fuel. According to the company, one such plant could provide clean energy to 250,000 households.
    The new nuclear reactor should become more sustainable, cheaper and safer than conventional nuclear reactors. "Our design is unique in using replaceable cartridges in the reactor core. This allows us to work with materials that do not need to withstand reactor conditions for 50 or 100 years," explained Thorizon's CEO Kiki Lauwers. (ANSA).