It is a sustainable investment if “radioactive waste” is disposed of safely

Europe plans to consider nuclear energy and natural gas “green investments”

France is the largest producer of atomic energy in Europe.

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The European Union plans to consider some nuclear power plants and natural gas as green investments that can help reduce carbon emissions, and if the plan is approved, nuclear power could operate on the old continent in the coming decades.

The European Commission said it had started consultations with EU countries on the proposal, which aims to provide a set of definitions for sustainable investment in Europe.

The Commission stressed that there is a role for natural gas and nuclear fuel as a phase that facilitates the transition towards a future based on a renewable basis.

The proposal is one of Europe's heated political battles at a time when its leaders have vowed to pull the planet back from the brink of climate catastrophe.

It comes after months of intense pressure from a bloc of nuclear states led by French President Emmanuel Macron, Europe's largest atomic energy producer, which faces objections from Germany and other countries who fear the spread of nuclear energy on European soil.

According to the New York Times, a bill circulated in Brussels over the weekend seeks to find a compromise.

The proposal would consider natural gas and nuclear energy green resources to be used as a transitional period away from coal and carbon-emitting energy, towards clean energy technologies such as wind and solar.

Nuclear power can be considered a sustainable investment if countries can safely dispose of radioactive waste, one of the biggest concerns of the German-led bloc.

The new plants will be considered sustainable investments until 2045 and will have to undergo upgrades to ensure "the highest achievable safety standards", according to the draft law, which considers natural gas plants to be "transitional" green energy sources for investment purposes if they meet certain emissions standards and replace fossil fuel stations. most polluting.

The European Union is making sustainability and climate considerations an integral part of its rules, which aim to reduce Europe's greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050. The rules aim to direct private capital and public funds to renewable investments.

Supporters of Europe's plan say natural gas and nuclear fuels could provide vital sources of electricity as economies transition to cleaner sources such as wind and solar, and new technologies such as hydrogen power.

But others say that "neither of them deserves to be considered an environmentally friendly investment," pointing to the carbon emissions from gas flaring and the environmental risks of nuclear plants.

The committee's proposal is expected to face opposition from members of the European Parliament.

"The classification of natural gas as an environmentally friendly investment means that the whole of the EU's climate leadership is on its way to a precipice," said Dutch member of the European Parliament, Bas Eckhout.

France has led an alliance over the past year that included countries in Eastern Europe, the continent's most coal-dependent region, to classify nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable investments.

The alliance included Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, countries that want to attract more investment in nuclear energy as they seek to move away from fossil fuels.

On the other hand, Germany, along with Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal and Denmark, has expressed concerns about the accumulation of nuclear power plants and the radioactive waste they produce.

The inclusion of nuclear and gas energy in Europe's sustainable investment rules, known as a "green rating", could have major implications at home and abroad, as it opens the door to billions of government aid for expensive nuclear power projects.

The advisory body, known as the European Commission's Advisory Platform on Sustainable Finance, concluded earlier this year that nuclear power plants pose a risk of "significant damage" to the environment due to the radioactive waste they generate and concerns about the safety of their storage.

• The proposal is one of Europe's hottest political battles at a time when its leaders have vowed to pull the planet back from the brink of climate catastrophe.

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