Nuclear Power: Key to European Energy Security?

The diversification of energy sources has become pertinent to the global community in addressing climate change. Today, each region seeks to find cleaner fuels such as nuclear and green hydrogen tailored to their available resources and economies. An example is the possibility of nuclear power as the key to European energy security.

In 2019, 39 per cent of the energy consumed in Europe was provided by fossil fuels, with 26 per cent from nuclear power generation. However, unlike Africa, Europe has the capacity and finance to develop projects from clean energy generation options. Also, the continent currently faces enormous internal pressures, like the need to cut dependence on Russian natural gas. These pressures, alongside the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, have left the continent seeking to find clean, cost-effective ways to ensure energy security. For these reasons, nuclear power is one of the options being considered to replace fossil fuel energy generation.

Nuclear power plants, although fairly expensive, can last from 30 to 60 years before they are decommissioned. Also, nuclear power plants are considered clean because they do not emit greenhouse gas emissions that are detrimental to the global climate. For this, France and other countries have announced plans to increase nuclear power generation to meet their emission reduction goals. However, are these points valid enough for nuclear power to be the key to European energy security?

Despite the absence of greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power plants, nuclear pollution is not completely non-existent. Nuclear explosions and the disposal mechanisms of radioactive waste from nuclear plants have been topics of concern among environmentalists. Usually, nuclear waste is packaged in canisters and then buried underwater, underground or in buildings. However, this process, coupled with the possibility of a nuclear plant explosion, does not eliminate the risk of radioactive contamination of land and marine environments.

In the past, major disadvantages to adopting nuclear power generation were the cost and difficulty in developing the plants. However, technological breakthroughs have made for simpler nuclear reactor designs. For example, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) can be built remotely before being deployed and generate up to 300MW. In Romania, the U.S Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) provided funding to support the integration of SMR technology into the country’s energy mix. Also, with support from the USTDA, Poland has begun front-end engineering and design studies to develop the country’s first ever nuclear power plant.

The urgency to decommission as many fossil fuel plants as possible and the rapidly growing global population have demanded each continent find energy sources that are clean, affordable and sustainable. Being clean, lasting and cost-effective, perhaps nuclear power is the key to European energy security.