States announce accelerated expansion of nuclear power at international summits

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Nuclear power plant in France: 56 of the 100 nuclear power plants in Europe are located in the neighboring country

Photo: Jose Cendon/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Around 30 countries around the world want to work towards faster expansion and easier financing of nuclear power plants. “We are committed to fully exploiting the potential of nuclear energy,” said the joint statement at the first international nuclear energy summit in Brussels.

Electricity from nuclear power plants is essential for reducing climate-damaging CO₂ emissions, it said. The meeting was attended by, among others, heads of state and government from France, the Netherlands and Poland as well as high-ranking representatives from the USA, China and Japan.

In their statement, the politicians spoke out not only in favor of building new nuclear power plants, but also in favor of extending the lifespan of existing plants. They also advocated the rapid use of newer and smaller reactors.

Call for financial support

Experts around the world are working on new nuclear reactors. They should be more economical and safer than previous systems. However, researchers have now come to a completely different conclusion in a comprehensive study. (Here you can read more about it .

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The participants called on international financial institutions such as the World Bank to increase their support for nuclear projects and indicated that, in their view, other alternative energy sources have so far been given preferential treatment by development banks. Germany, which has phased out nuclear power, did not attend the meeting.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are 415 reactors in operation worldwide to produce electricity. At the World Climate Conference at the end of last year, around 20 countries announced that they would triple their nuclear energy production capacity by 2050.

The event was also accompanied by protests. Nuclear power is criticized primarily because of the high risks, as shown by the reactor disasters in Chernobyl, which was then part of the Soviet Union, and in Fukushima, Japan. Experts also complain that the technology is not suitable for making a difference in the fight against the climate crisis because of the long construction times of the reactors. In addition, there is the unresolved issue of the final disposal of radioactive waste.

ani/dpa