In the name of security of supply and with a view to meeting the Kyoto objectives, the European Commission is breaking the taboo on nuclear power by presenting in a document, released on January 10, the advantages of this energy source.
While the share of nuclear power in world energy production should drop, if nothing changes, from 6% to less than 5% in 2030, the European Commission is cautiously going out of its reserve to advocate for nuclear power.
In a report presenting a "package" of measures in favor of a common energy policy, which will be presented on January 10, Brussels will underline the advantages of the nuclear industry with a view to securing our energy supplies and respecting the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol.
In a preparatory document, cited on December 26 by the daily Les Echos, Commissioner Andris Piebalgs takes up part of the memorandum on energy policy presented by France at the beginning of 2006. Thus the text underlines that nuclear "is one of all the energies that reject low carbon, the most developed in the EU. It is less vulnerable to price fluctuations than coal or gas, because uranium represents only a limited share of the cost of producing nuclear electricity. furthermore available in sufficient quantities for several decades and distributed in several regions of the world. " Brussels does not directly invite the Member States to launch or relaunch this sector, but it also warns that "in the event that the level of nuclear production drops in Europe, it would be essential to compensate by introducing other sources that emit little gas without which the objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 would be very difficult to achieve. "
The European Commission, which does not want to offend the Member States which have programmed for the last decade the closure of their atomic power plants, such as Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands or more recently Germany and Belgium, is considering the creation a high-level group to improve the current safety rules for nuclear installations. Currently only France and Finland have remained in favor of nuclear power while the United Kingdom is wondering about a possible recovery.
http://www.fenetreeurope.com/php/page.p ... tu&id=7144