Interest in French-led nuclear alliance gathers momentum

French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher will meet on Tuesday (16 May) with representatives of 15 other European states as part of the so-called “nuclear alliance” – an increase compared to the 11 that had shown interest just two months ago.

Countries will meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss ways of reducing their reliance on Russian nuclear fuel and developing a European nuclear industry.

Representatives from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia are expected to attend.

They will be joined by Sweden, Italy and the UK, bringing the total to 16 countries.

Sweden had until now decided to remain neutral because it holds the EU’s rotating six-month presidency until the end of June. As for Italy, it will attend as an “observer”, while the UK will join as a special “guest”, according to the ministry’s services.

This meeting follows two others that were held in Stockholm in February and Brussels in March.

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson will also attend to listen and understand how to accompany national policies on safety, security of supply, industrial development and innovation, such as in the small modular reactor (SMR) sector, the European Commission told EURACTIV.

The first topic of the meeting will focus on “building a resilient and independent European value chain”, especially vis-à-vis Russian fuel. Representatives will discuss the role of the EU in this area, Pannier-Runacher’s office pointed out.

As Eastern European countries are particularly dependent on Russian fuel, the United States, South Korea, Japan and other nuclear countries “are ready to help”, the office said.

The second part of the meeting, in which the UK will join, will be more operational and focus on current and future projects as well as skills. In short, it will be about “the relaunch of the nuclear industry in Europe” summarised Pannier-Runacher’s office.

For the minister’s office, this meeting in Paris is a real “turning point” in the ‘nuclear alliance’ launched by Paris earlier this year. Together, the countries of the alliance aim to constitute a force with “very strong political links” for the following European texts on energy transition, such as the Net-Zero Industry Act on industrial recovery in Europe, the minister’s office said.

Finally, new joint projects could be announced, but the minister’s office said it was “not going to spoil” the surprise. For instance, measures for pooling human resources in developing nuclear power plants in Europe could be announced.

However, “we should not expect […] member states to make announcements on new reactors,” French officials said.

(Paul Messad | EURACTIV.fr)