In France, the question of our dependence on nuclear energy is one of the subjects that drive the presidential campaign. To see how this energy and ecological issue is approached elsewhere in Europe, we are heading to Scandinavia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
UK invests heavily in nuclear power
The United Kingdom is betting on nuclear power. Boris Johnson announced Thursday, April 7, the construction of eight power plants by 2030, one per year. For the British Prime Minister, energy independence necessarily involves the atom.
Not only is nuclear energy inevitable according to the conservatives in power, but it must, they judge, be greatly reinforced. By 2030, the host country of the last COP, wants to produce 95% of its electricity with low carbon emissions. For nuclear, the British objective is to reach 24 gigawatt hours (GW) by 2050, or 25% of demand in the United Kingdom.
The government is talking about both small modular reactors and large power plants like Hinkley Point, on the south-west coast of England. The construction of this first British EPR reactor, whose construction was decided 14 years ago, is still in progress. EDF announced a delay last year and plans delivery for the end of 2025. The overall cost of this mega power plant is estimated at nearly 27 billion euros.
The more cheap, clean power we generate at home, the less exposed we will be to eye-watering fossil fuel prices set by global markets we can’t control.
Today’s Energy Security Strategy sets out our plan for greater energy independence.
Full plan https://t.co/6svnoxb7WO pic.twitter.com/lfE9fLlr4q
— Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) April 7, 2022
Kwasi Kwarteng, the British Minister for Energy, is therefore questioned about the feasibility of this plan. “No one said building a nuclear power plant was easy. Several governments over the past 30 or 40 years have announced ambitious plans and, of course, nothing has happened. The reason why you can believe us is is the construction of Hinkley point. We announced it and we are building it. The project will come to an end. And we can do it again.”
Obviously, the British government also puts forward the creation of jobs, both to build these plants and to run them. Unfortunately, these projects will not immediately reduce energy bills which rose by 50% on Friday April 1st. To bring down prices, London is still counting on the gas and oil fields in the North Sea.
Germany plans to postpone post-Fukushima commitments
In Germany, the war in Ukraine is forcing the country to rethink its energy supply and review its copy in terms of energy transition. The nuclear phase-out scheduled for this year could be delayed.
In the new German government, it is now an environmentalist who manages these issues. Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor, has tailor-made an unprecedented ministerial portfolio: “the economy and climate protection”. Robert Habeck has always campaigned for the exit from nuclear power. It was in 2011, after the accident at the Japanese power plant in Fukushima that Germany, led by Angela Merkel, gave itself around 10 years to shut down all its reactors. And on schedule, Germany shut down three of its remaining six power plants, just weeks before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The last three reactors must in turn cease to operate at the end of this year.
However, this war seems to upset this scenario, just like that of the exit from coal. Germany faces a real energy puzzle. Breaking free from Russian gas, getting out of coal and nuclear, all of that is obviously not possible at the same time. The Vice-Chancellor has himself acknowledged this. His words were: “Pragmatism must prevail over any political commitment”.
It’s a very German, classic object lesson. What is new, however, and what we hear a lot more here lately, is when Robert Habeck adds: “There are no taboos”. Germany, under duress, is forced to adapt, to put aside some of its dogmas. And if the situation seems unpleasant at first glance, this minister makes it a strength. He detailed on Wednesday April 6 what the new German strategy should be. It gives even more than in its previous project a boost to renewable energies.
In 2035, electricity must come almost entirely from the sun and the wind. To do so, it classifies renewables as being of “superior general interest”, in other words, the magic phrase against administrative blockages and legal action. This would never have been possible without the war in Ukraine. And it thus gives German public opinion, which is fundamentally anti-nuclear, reasons to hope that on this point, at least, the release schedule will be respected, even within a few months.
Finland and Sweden make progress on waste treatment
In Sweden and Finland, the issue of nuclear waste management is of concern to the authorities. For decades, engineers have been working on the possibility of burying this waste at a very great depth, for a very long time. And these two countries are the first to take concrete steps in this direction. They believe the technology is now safe.
In Sweden, the government officially gave the green light to this solution at the end of January. The waste will be sealed in copper containers, lowered 500 meters underground and stored in galleries of granite, themselves filled with clay. The site has already been chosen, and the first containers will arrive in 2030. In Finland, we have opted for the same solution, but it is somewhat the opposite of the Swedish calendar: the galleries have already been dug, all that is missing is administrative and political authorization.
The Swedish Government approves SKB’s final repository system https://t.co/VAdE2kmk4M
— SKB (@SKB_nyheter) January 27, 2022
These decisions will strengthen the role of the nuclear industry in both countries. With the atom, they rely on the production of non-carbon energy. And the fact of being able to get rid of this waste on their own territory opens up prospects. Sweden has six reactors in operation, but it is legally possible to open four more. Finland, for its part, has already taken the plunge by connecting a brand new EPR last March – this new French technology reactor – which will eventually supply 14% of the country’s electricity. It is also the first nuclear reactor to be inaugurated in Europe, for 15 years.