EU Nuclear Alliance Calls for Tools and Funding

The EU Nuclear Alliance and Italy are calling for public projects to help develop nuclear power. A process that will be based on so-called small modular reactors (SMRs), fission plants that are smaller, more modular, and more versatile than traditional reactors.

The EU Nuclear Alliance met on the sidelines of the EU Energy Council in Brussels, attended by France, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden, with Italy participating as an observer country.

The group agreed that financial instruments should be implemented to develop large-scale MMR reactors, as well as to consider nuclear power for green hydrogen production and, more generally, to consider this type of energy in climate scenarios for 2040.

According to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, an informal meeting was held in Brussels between Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, who also has authority in the energy sector. “Hydrogen and the latest generation of nuclear power will take on the decisive function,” said politician Pichetto Fratin. “Italy intends to strengthen its role as a bridge country between Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.”