France calls for half a trillion euros to be invested in nuclear power in Europe by 2050

At a time when the European Union is still debating which energies can be labelled as renewable and therefore receive financial support, France is not relaxing its policy of supporting electricity production based on the atom. It wants to attract support for the votes that will decide whether the group led by Paris or the group led by Berlin and Madrid wins, although Spanish energy policymakers are more reluctant than the Germans to support natural gas.

The energy battle is also taking place in Brussels. Along these lines, the French Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industry from 2005-2007, now European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, has stated that the transition towards carbon-free energy in the European Union requires the participation of nuclear energy in order to meet the established objectives. This strategy entails investments of half a trillion euros in new nuclear reactors between now and 2050.

This figure implies allocating some 20 billion euros per year for the installation of new generation reactors, which would be added to the 50 billion euros needed to maintain and improve the nuclear power plants currently in operation, according to the French commissioner in an interview published in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

Thierry Breton points out that if nuclear is integrated into the green energy group, the financial market will receive a signal that will make it possible for related projects to be favourably financed. The goal of the advocates of the atom is to compete, not only in the European Parliament, but also in the markets with wind and solar developers, and that will require hundreds of thousands of euros in the coming years.

A relevant issue for France, as President Emmanuel Macron, who is tipped to win the elections in April, announced a plan to build reactors to renew the current nuclear fleet that supplies 70% of the French electricity supply. This is a far cry from the 26% of the EU as a whole.

The Czech Republic, an energy policy ally of France in Brussels, has announced that it will phase out coal-fired power generation, which generates 50% of the electricity consumed by Czech citizens. It will be replaced by nuclear and renewables.