Nuclear power in the European Union

This article is about nuclear power in the whole European Union. For nuclear energy policy in individual member states, see Nuclear energy policy by country.

Nuclear power in the European Union accounted for approximately 26% of total electricity production in 2019[1] and nearly half of low-carbon energy production across the EU.[2]

The energy policies of the European Union (EU) member countries vary significantly. As of February 2020, 13 out of 27 countries have nuclear reactors. The countries with reactors are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.[3] The United Kingdom (a former member of the European Union with interconnected electricity links with the EU) also operates nuclear reactors.

As of November 2021, 5 member countries jointly urged the European Commission to keep nuclear power out of the EU's green finance taxonomy; namely the countries are Germany, Austria, Portugal, Denmark, Luxembourg.[4][5][6] As they collectively comprise less than 19% of the member states & less than 25% of the overall European Union population, they would be unable to block the European Commission's recommendations to include both natural gas and nuclear power within the EU's green finance taxonomy.[6]

  1. ^ "Nuclear power plants provide about a quarter of EU's electricity". ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  2. ^ "The role of nuclear in a low-carbon Europe". energyfocus.the-eic.com. Energy Focus. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Power Reactor Information System". International Atomic Energy Agency. 18 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Joint Declaration for a nuclear-free EU Taxonomy - BMUV-Meldung". bmuv.de (in German). Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. ^ Kurmayer, Nikolaus J. (12 November 2021). "Five EU countries form anti-nuclear alliance at COP26". www.euractiv.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b "EU moves to label gas and nuclear energy as 'green'". dw.com. 1 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.