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Several European countries are reversing plans to shut down their nuclear power plants as Russia severely limits oil and natural gas supplies to the continent, according to a new report.
Russia has cut off supplies as a countermeasure against Western economic sanctions over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Germany had planned to shut down all its reactors by the end of the year, but is now debating whether to keep them open next year or even longer.
Meanwhile, Belgium planned to shut down two reactors in 2025, but will now keep them open until 2036, according to The Wall Street Journal. France plans to build 14 additional reactors over the next few decades. The United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Poland and others are also planning new reactors, according to the report.
Beyond Moscow’s bullying, reactors are also proving critical to achieving UN climate goals. Nuclear power is the cleanest and most efficient source of energy available today, although disasters at some power plants have made some fearful of the method.
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In this Nov. 14, 2013 file photo, cows stand in front of German energy provider RWE’s latest coalfired power plant in Hamm, Germany. The share of electricity generated from coal increased in Germany last year as the country seeks to meet its ambitious goal of shutting down all nuclear power plants by 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, file)
(Associated Press)
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also suggested that his country plans to build new, smaller reactors in an effort to meet clean energy goals.
Japan had previously shut down most of its reactors after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima power plant.
“To overcome our impending crisis of an electricity supply crisis, we must take our maximum steps to mobilize all possible policies in the coming years and prepare for any emergency,” Kishida said during a conference on the “green transformation” last week.
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The Kishida administration says the country would develop new safety standards before moving forward with construction.
The most problematic part of nuclear power production is the safe disposal of spent fuel rods, which remain highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.