As part of an accord on civilian nuclear cooperation between the countries, Italian and French energy giants Enel and EDF will build at least four nuclear plants in Italy, the intention being to have the first one up and running by 2020. The agreement between the companies gives Enel a majority stake in the plants and allows them to lead their operation.
The deal signals a U-turn for Italy. Italians rejected nuclear power in a referendum in November 1987, which led to the closure of all the plants in operation at the time. Despite this, Berlusconi's new government voiced plans to resume building nuclear plants after the May 2008 elections.
The new plants will use European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPR), a state-of-the-art atomic energy technology. Enel also expressed interest in extending ongoing cooperation with EDF to build five additional EPR reactors in France.
French exception
France opted to continue to develop nuclear power, while many other European countries moved to restrict or ban nuclear plants in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union. Belgium and Germany, for example, banned the construction of new reactors.
France relies on nuclear for almost 80% of its electricity production, and is the world's largest net exporter of electricity, most of which goes to the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. Sarkozy's government gave the go-ahead for the construction of a new reactor in Flamanville, Normandy, while last year, EDF bought British Energy - which dominates the UK nuclear landscape - and plans to build new plants in the UK.
As a result, electricity prices are lower in France than in most European countries, prompting strong arguments in favour of nuclear in neighbouring Germany, where electricity prices are higher than the EU average and the government plans to phase out nuclear completely by 2021.
Changing climate
The tide is turning, however, as fluctuating oil prices and concerns about energy security are bringing about a nuclear renaissance across Europe. The current climate is quite different to that in the 1980s, when the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island accidents were fresh in citizens' minds and worries about climate change related by rising emissions did not feature high on the political agenda.
Nowadays, oil prices are much higher, making nuclear a highly competitive option, while the recent gas supply crisis between Ukraine and Russia highlighted the need for alternative energy options. For example, to guarantee adequate electricity supply and make up for recent gas disruptions, Slovakia recently decided to restart a nuclear plant that had been shut down in accordance with its EU accession treaty (EurActiv 12/01/09).
Opinion is clearly becoming more favourable towards nuclear power. The UK is planning to build new reactors, and Germany seems ready to abandon its phase-out plans should the Christian Democrats, who support atomic energy, win the September general elections with a sufficient majority.
Of the Nordic countries, Denmark is the only one to stick to a zero-nuclear policy. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt announced on 5 February that Sweden would backtrack from a thirty-year ban on building new nuclear capacity. Finland, meanwhile, is building its fifth plant in Olkiluoto, and Finnish energy group Fortum has applied to build the country's sixth reactor.
Poland also plans to complete two nuclear power stations by 2025 as part of an energy security action plan that seeks to reduce the country's dependence on coal (EurActiv 6/02/09).
Green opinion split
Even green actors are divided on the virtues and vices of nuclear power. Greenpeace and WWF oppose it, arguing that it will not deliver the necessary emissions cuts to stop climate change and in any case only replaces one environmental problem with another, generating dangerous radioactive waste.
On the other hand, respected environmentalists such as James Lovelock and Patrick Moore, one of Greenpeace's founder, have defended atomic power as a solution to the world's climate woes.
However, critics allege that developing nuclear power deflects attention away from renewable energies, which could provide a sustainable and lasting solution to energy security.
The EU reached a deal on ambitious climate legislation in December 2008, obliging national governments to commit to individual targets to raise the Union's share of renewable energies to 20% of its total energy mix by 2020. Nevertheless, the bloc's Second Strategic Energy Review, which sets out a vision for a secure European energy future, promotes further development of nuclear as a clean, indigenous resource alongside renewables (EurActiv 4/02/09).
Thus the Union as a whole clearly supports more nuclear power, but disagreement remains as to how green nuclear energy really is.
_stack2.jpg){kind=small}
