Brussels, EU leaders meeting to relaunch atomic energy:"Nuclear is clean, we need more of it."Germany absent

About thirty national delegations participated in the summit - parallel to the European Council:Minister Tajani is present for Italy.Greenpeace protest outside the building

The European Council is not the only summit that brought together heads of state and ministers in Brussels today, Thursday 21 March.The other event of the day is the nuclear energy summit, chaired by the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, and the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi.The summit was attended by around thirty delegations from all over the world, including Italy, represented for the occasion by the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.The final agreement signed by the leaders includes a commitment to reaffirming the role of nuclear energy as a "key component" in the fight against climate change and, at the same time, unlocking public and private financing towards the atom.«Nuclear energy today produces a quarter of clean energy on a global scale, equal to 25%, of which half comes from the European Union.It's not a utopia, it's reality.But we need more", declared the IAEA director in his speech in Brussels.The big absentee from today's summit is Germany, which last year shut down its last three nuclear reactors and now aims to achieve 100% energy from renewable sources by 2035.

The EU strategy in four steps

The energy policies adopted by the European Union during the last legislature have focused above all on renewables, relegating nuclear power to a secondary role.In recent years, however, the atom has returned to take the stage.Last December, it was mentioned for the first time explicitly in the final document of COP28 in Dubai, where a group of 20 countries also signed a pact to “triple nuclear energy capabilities worldwide by 2050.”Then, in December, the European Union included atomic energy among the technologies considered "strategic" to achieve the goal of zero net emissions by 2050.A direction confirmed today also by Ursula von der Leyen.In her speech at the Brussels summit, the President of the European Commission recognized that "there are different opinions on atomic energy", but the nuclear-renewables combination constitutes "the backbone of the EU's electricity production by 2050".Von der Leyen therefore outlined the four pillars of the European strategy for the relaunch of nuclear power.First:increase investments in the sector.Second:broaden the commitment to the energy transition.Third:consider extending the lifespan of existing nuclear power plants.And finally, continue working to bring small modular reactors to the market as soon as possible, on which Italy has also demonstrated some interest.

Macron's pressing and Italy at the window

To date, around a quarter of the energy produced in the European Union comes from nuclear power.If you look at individual countries, however, only 12 out of 27 can count on at least one operating power plant.The lion's share is France, which owns 56 of the 100 active reactors in EU territory.A competitive advantage to which today Emmanuel Macron he has no intention of giving up, on the contrary.“In France we will produce 90 gigawatts of scheduled capacity and, in addition to these, I will announce a further 14 GW,” revealed the French president, without indicating timing or other details.The request that France insists on the most concerns financing for nuclear-related projects, with Macron today from Brussels calling for greater involvement of the EIB, the European Investment Bank.Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was also present at the summit in Belgium, who reiterated the government's interest in atomic energy:«Italy is looking at energy independence to progressively abandon fossil fuels and to focus on an energy mix that includes renewables, hydrogen and even nuclear».

Greenpeace protests

While the relaunch of nuclear power in Europe and around the world was being discussed inside the Brussels Expo, a protest demonstration by Greenpeace and other environmentalist groups took place outside the building.«We are in a climate emergency, so time is precious, but the governments gathered here today intend to waste it telling fairy tales about nuclear energy», explained Lorelei Limousin, senior campaigner by Greenpeace EU.According to the association, focusing on nuclear energy means embracing a process that is "too slow and too expensive", not compatible with the urgency of the climate crisis.The activists therefore reiterate their counter-proposals:«Governments should rather encourage renewable sources, energy saving and more effective and useful solutions for people, such as thermal insulation of homes and sustainable mobility».

Cover photo:EPA/Olivier Hoslet | From left:the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi (Brussels, 21 March 2024)