the revival of the atom seen from Italy and Poland

Faced with the climate challenge and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, around thirty States are meeting in Brussels to relaunch nuclear power. In Italy and Poland, which do not have nuclear power plants, the idea seems to be gaining ground.

Representatives from around thirty countries, including China, the United States and Brazil, are meeting on Thursday March 21 in Brussels for an unprecedented summit devoted to the revival of nuclear energy. Faced with climate objectives, but also the energy repercussions of the war in Ukraine, the atom is back. Organized near the Atomium, a 1958 monument making the civil atom the symbol of technological innovation, this summit comes in the wake of the COP28 on the climate where around twenty countries called for tripling global capacities nuclear power by 2050.

Italy is participating in this meeting, however, it closed its power plants at the end of the 1980s, after the disaster of the Chernobyl power plant, then that of Fukushima. It has massively reduced the share of Russian gas in its consumption, but it remains very dependent on foreign gas. As for Poland, it abandoned a nuclear power plant project at the end of the 90s and is only preparing to build its first one. The country is still extremely dependent on coal for its electricity production. And for Italyas for Poland, we are far from the carbon neutrality objectives set by the European Union.

Italy: MPs examine the role of nuclear power in the energy transition

The subject of relaunching nuclear power is no longer taboo in Italy and it is relatively new. The country abandoned nuclear power via two referendums after Chernobyl and Fukushima. Today, three-quarters of its energy consumption is hydrocarbons, massively imported. The international context, the war in Ukraine in particular, has reshuffled the energy cards for two years. Italy has massively reduced the share of Russian gas in its consumption, but it remains very dependent on foreign gas. And then it is far from the mark in terms of renewables, around 20% of the mix where the European objective is more than 40% in 2030. It is therefore both for ecological reasons, using more sources of low or zero carbon emissions, and in the name of system security.e energy, that we are considering the return of nuclear power in Italy.

We are still at the reflection stage. Stakeholders in the sector, researchers, industrialists, politicians held a first meeting in September 2023. A few weeks ago, the environment committee of the Chamber of Deputies voted for a study on the role of nuclear power in the energy transition. The right, far-right majority voted for it, the left-wing opposition abstained, so there is no national unity.

Shared public opinion

There is no question of building new power plants in Italy, assures the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security. It is banking on agreements with producing countries, on the construction of small reactors. The State would only have a facilitating role in their manufacturing and implementation. Italy is interested in research into nuclear fusion technology. We therefore move forward with caution in Rome.

At the time of the last COP, Giorgia Meloni recognized the delay accumulated in terms of competence by her country, 30 years after the closure of the last power plants. But this competence is not zero, Italy had four power plants from the 60s to the end of the 80s. The opinion is pshared. A poll last fall formed an opinion at 50-50. There remains a real political question: how to sit on two referendums which marked the end of nuclear power in the country?

Poland: three nuclear power plants by 2030 and a 90% favorable opinion

In Poland, while we are still very dependent on coal for electricity production (75%), we are starting to look towards nuclear power. A contract has already been signed with the American company Westinghouse at the end of 2022. They are the ones who should be responsible for building the country’s first nuclear power plant, and even three within 20 years. And this, to the great dismay of the French EDF who had positioned themselves on the project. The power plant should be built on the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the north of the country. Almost in the same place where the country’s first power station should have been built in the 1990s. But the trauma of Chernobyl put an end to this project.

This time, Poland is ready to go nuclear, especially since the war in Ukraine has shown the limits of coal. Most Russian imports had to be stopped, and in the winter of 2023, some coal shortages destabilized electricity production. And on top of that, the European Union is aiming for carbon neutrality, which is impossible with coal. This new nuclear power plant project divides the Poles much less than before. The latest poll on the nuclear issue confirms that almost 90% of people support the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country, which is quite impressive.

Coal-fired power plants supported until at least 2028

The detractors come more from the scientific world. The power plant should be cooled with water from the Baltic. This is a cheaper and more efficient solution than installing large cooling towers. But the water that will be released into the sea will be 10 degrees warmer and should increase the temperature for several kilometers. This could destabilize the ecosystem, in an area known for fishing. But this argument was dismissed because changing the site would cause the work to be delayed by 10 years.

The new coalition in power, which had nevertheless promised to accelerate the energy transition, realizes that it cannot do without coal for the moment. On March 20, the ministry responsible for energy infrastructure even announced that Poland would have to continue supporting coal-fired power plants at least until 2028. And Poland even hopes to negotiate aid with Brussels until the nuclear power plant is operational. . Switching from coal to nuclear power ultimately turns out to be more complicated than expected for the new Polish government.