FLAMANVILLE, France — EU industry chief Stéphane Séjourné traveled to a nuclear plant in Normandy this week with a message for Brussels: It’s time to heed nuclear advocates.
“There’s a part of Europe that I believe is the majority today, which considers that nuclear power should be part of our decarbonization strategy,” Séjourné told POLITICO aboard a regional train returning to Paris Thursday evening.
“The economic and social context has changed,” he added. “So did the political context.”
Séjourné’s atomic push is part of a broader French-led offensive to turn the tide on nuclear power in Brussels.
The EU has traditionally omitted atomic energy from the incentives it extends to renewable energy sources like wind and solar. But nuclear advocates like France want to change that, arguing that as a low-carbon option nuclear deserves greater support from Brussels to help speed the green transition.
Now France has Séjourné in Brussels, a vocal commissioner pushing to have that stance incorporated in the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU’s upcoming plan to help industries cut carbon emissions and keep manufacturers in business, due out Feb. 26.
He’s got plenty of people cheering him on. The war in Ukraine, the ensuing energy crisis and Europe’s nuclear-friendly rightward shift have all boosted the standing of atomic energy across the continent.
There’s also the fact that Germany, France’s nemesis on all things nuclear, is distracted by internal politics and a flagging economy, creating a political opening nuclear advocates don’t want to miss.
Accordingly, nuclear proselytizers are pouncing. Last week the French Medef organization, which includes business lobbies from 13 EU countries plus the U.K., signed a declaration asking for increased EU support for the nuclear sector.
The new group aims to be a private-sector equivalent to the Nuclear Alliance, within which a dozen EU member countries, led by Paris, regularly meet during gatherings of energy ministers in Brussels.
There is an “economic logic” to reviving nuclear power in Europe, Séjourné said, calling it a competitive asset.
Nuclear power “is low carbon, [is] aligned with European sovereignty, and is lowering prices because the amount of [electricity] production is just huge,” he argued.
There’s just one problem with those claims: The last nuclear reactors built or under construction in Europe have all experienced major delays and cost overruns, raising questions about the industry’s ability to deliver new reactors on time and on budget.
French nuclear giant EDF’s latest reactor, built at the Flamanville power plant that Séjourné visited this week, has come to symbolize the industry’s difficulties. Construction took 17 years instead of five and cost seven times more than planned, according to a recent report from the French audit body.
Although industry representatives say they can go faster if given clear targets, those struggles have spurred French authorities to err on the side of caution.
One of the conditions set by the French government for approval of public financing for six new nuclear reactors is that these must produce electricity at “competitive” prices compared to renewable energy sources like offshore wind, Joël Barre, the senior official tasked with overseeing France’s nuclear relaunch, recently told POLITICO.
Even though the political winds seem to be blowing in Séjourné’s favor, however, his unvarnished nuclear proselytizing could come with political risks.
Asked whether he was worried his move would alienate some of his fellow EU commissioners, the former French foreign minister, who is a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he had been sent to Brussels “to make a difference.”
“You have to respect those who disagree, that’s why there are discussions,” Séjourné added, an EU flag pinned to his lapel. “But that shouldn’t prevent the French commissioner from making strong statements on this topic.”
The post Stéphane Séjourné is on a nuclear mission as EU industry chief appeared first on Politico.
