EU in two minds about atomic power

European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that the number of signatures on the petition against Euratom and nuclear power was "impressive", adding: "Certainly, the voices of these Europeans will be taken into consideration." 

The European Atomic Forum (FORATOM), which represents the nuclear energy industry in Europe, underlined that the Euratom Treaty is just as relevant today as it was back in 1957: "Thanks to the treaty, Europe's citizens continue to enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy, namely a secure, affordable and environmentally friendly source of base-load electricity." 

They argue that the safety record of the nuclear industry in the EU is "second to none", thanks to the historic treaty. 

Europe's major business lobby BusinessEurope says that nuclear power has a "very strong contribution" to make as a non-CO2-producing form of power and the EU should take steps to increase its share in electricity generation from 32% to 40% by 2030. "An increased contribution by nuclear energy would help to promote the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries," said the group. 

But green groups say that Euratom is now the only treaty at European level promoting a specific technology, which they feel is dangerous and expensive. 

Frank Van Schaik, campaign co-ordinator of the European Petition Campaign against Nuclear Power, said: "Euratom is an outdated treaty, through which the EU continues to pump millions upon millions of euro of public money into nuclear power. It is completely outrageous to give preferential financial support to an expensive and dangerous energy source when more than 60% of Europeans actually want to decrease nuclear’s contribution to energy generation." 

The campaign points out the contradictions between EU leaders' recent decision to increase the share of renewables in power generation to 20% by 2020 and the EU's research agenda for the next five years, which will devote four times more money to nuclear (€550 million annually) than to renewables and energy efficiency combined (€168 million per year). 

"Euratom is distorting the market by giving unjustified financial support to a specific technology for electricity production. While the EU is in a process of internalising environmental costs of energy production by starting an emission cap-andtrade system, producers of nuclear energy do not pay for the full costs of decommissioning and radioactive waste storage," said anti-nuclear organisations.