Russia’s war in Ukraine has generated interest in nuclear energy across Europe
The Russia’s war in Ukraine has intensified interest across Europe in building new nuclear energy plants or extending the lives of old ones to liberate the continent from its heavy reliance on Russian oil and natural gas. Recently such conversations have been heard in Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltics.
The heightened interest comes as the war has showed the dangers of building nuclear reactors on NATO’s front line. Also, reactors are so expensive that it makes nuclear energy much more expensive than renewables. In addition, reactors are notoriously late in construction. Even if nuclear contractors stay on schedule, a new reactor in Europe will not be switched on at least until the end of the decade, which makes nuclear energy largely irrelevant for the current energy crisis, and possibly the next.
