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The Council of EU member states and the European Parliament agreed to label nuclear power as a strategic technology together with 16 other technologies declared strategic for the EU’s decarbonization, following months of negotiations in Brussels over the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

The NZIA aims to speed up the deployment of technologies that can contribute to meeting the EU’s net-zero emissions target. This is seen as a direct response by the EU to the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act and efforts by other countries, including China, to become global leaders in the manufacturing of clean technologies like batteries, heat pumps and solar panels.

The NZIA aims to accelerate permitting procedures for industrial production sites involved in the manufacturing of components needed for renewable energy technologies, but also for nuclear power.

Negotiators representing the Parliament, the Council, and the European Commission confirmed on Tuesday the “strategic” nature of projects relating to nuclear energy, which are included in a single list of 17 net-zero technologies that will benefit from the NZIA.

French MEP Christophe Grudler who took part in the talks for the centrist Renew Europe group in Parliament, explained that each EU country will be sovereign in defining the projects that will be considered strategic on its territory, and thus which will benefit from faster permitting and simplified administrative rules.

However, as a result of the negotiations, “the two types of energy (namely, renewable and nuclear) are finally being treated equally as part of the reindustrialisation process,” Grudler rejoiced.

The agreement encompasses both traditional nuclear nuclear technologies as well as future third and fourth generation designs, i.e. small modular reactors (SMRs) and other types of advanced nuclear reactors and their corresponding fuel cycles.

“The message is clear: the EU recognises that we need nuclear power to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal,” the French MEP told Euractiv.

Read more at EURACTIV's "Nuclear power officially labelled as 'strategic' for EU's decarbonisation," by Paul Messad, February 7, 2024.

See EURACTIV's "EU Parliament backs extensive net-zero industry ‘wishlist’, including nuclear,"by Paul Messad, Nov. 23, 2023.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate policy, Government support, History Timeline, History-making, International support for nuclear, LINKS, Nuclear financing, Nuclear-inclusive energy policy, Politicians supporting nuclear, Solving climate, Zero emission energy

The EU Parliament ruled in a majority vote to keep nuclear energy in the Complementary Delegated Act for the EU's sustainable Taxonomy. Set to enter into force on January 1, 2023, the Taxonomy Delegated Act will allow nuclear and natural gas-fired power plants to be marketed as green investments on financial markets.

278 MEPs voted against giving green labels to nuclear and gas but this number fell short of the absolute majority of 353 MEPs that were needed to veto the Commission’s proposal.

Inthe newly approved EU taxonomy, new nuclear and gas-fired plants built through 2030 will be recognised as a "transitional energy source" as long as they replace dirtier fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

Gas projects are required to keep direct emissions are kept under a maximum cap and they switch to fully renewable energy by 2035.

Nuclear power may be funded so long as they commit to switch to accident-tolerant fuels by 2025. Additionally, nuclear power must adhere to certain standards for the disposal of radioactive waste.

There were months of heated debate over a whether or not to include nuclear and gas in a rating regime that influences choices of direct investment in clean energy for the next decade, with the goal or reaching net-zero by 2050.

The EU Commissioners devised their plan as a compromise between pro-nuclear French and anti-nuclear, pro-gas German contingents by coupling gas and nuclear together, which left MEPs with no choice but to vote for both or none.

Which means that nuclear power plants, which do not emit greenhouse gases are forced to get negative billing, by being paired with natural gas, which does emit greenhouse gas emissions. However, since there is inadequate alternatives, gas poses a better choice than coal, as it is slightly less polluting than coal and is being relied upon increasingly as a transitional fuel.

Read more at Earth.org: Gas and Nuclear Turn Green as EU Parliament Approves New Taxonomy, published July 7, 2022, by Martina Igini and NEI, "EU Taxonomy to Include Nuclear Energy, Recognizing Its Role in Global Decarbonization" published July 6, 2022.

In a follow-up article published July 19, 2022 in Bloomberg entitled Once-Unthinkable Nuclear Green Bonds Are Coming to Europe, Greg Ritchie and Ronan Martin describe EDF's plan to distinguish nuclear issuance from ‘classic’ bonds but shows how, by virtue of qualifying activities could be a true game-changer for clean energy.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate policy, Corporate decarbonization, Energy abundance, Future of Energy, Government support, History-making, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear-inclusive energy policy, Politicians supporting nuclear, Solving climate, Zero emission energy

EU Declares Nuclear to be one of 17 Strategic Decarbonization Technologies

EU Taxonomy to Include Nuclear Energy