The European Commission has formally adopted the REPowerEU plan which aims to rapidly reduce EU dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The plan recognises that nuclear will have a role to play in ensuring security of EU energy supplies, and highlights the importance of coordinated action to reduce dependence on Russian nuclear materials and fuel cycle services.

Policymakers and businesses alike need to take a calm, rational and pragmatic approach to ensure security of energy supply, according to panellists at World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2022.

The eighth European Union-International Atomic Energy Agency Senior Officials Meeting discussed opportunities to deepen cooperation in a range of areas, including collaboration on the development and deployment of small modular reactors.

The International Energy Agency has set out a ten-point plan that could enable the European Union to reduce its imports of natural gas from Russia by more than one-third within a year, including maximising generation from existing low-emissions sources such as nuclear.

The debate over sustainable investment rules has highlighted the differences within the European Union on the ideal and/or possible energy mix in a carbon-constrained world where the EU wants to be a role model. It is time to reform the electricity system in Europe, writes Marc Deffrennes, from the weCare alliance of NGOs which favour using renewables and nuclear to limit carbon emissions.

The European Union wants to encourage investment in "sustainable" activities to help it get to net-zero by 2050.

The European Commission has presented the final version of the Complementary Delegated Act of the EU Taxonomy Regulation covering certain gas and nuclear activities. The final version contains only minor changes from the draft leaked at the end of December, with nuclear remaining a transitional energy technology.

World Nuclear Association commends the recent publication of the Complementary Delegated Act that recognises the fundamental sustainability of nuclear energy and elevates it into the EU’s sustainable finance taxonomy. Now the Commission must demonstrate its commitment to a truly technology neutral framework and make sure that criteria are consistent and scientifically justified, says World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León.

European nuclear trade body Foratom has welcomed the decision of the European Commission to include nuclear within the sustainable finance taxonomy under certain conditions. However, it has provided the Commission with some suggestions for improvement, based on analysis of the leaked draft Complementary Delegated Act.

Investment in nuclear power totalling around EUR500 billion (USD565 billion) by 2050 will be needed if the European Union’s goal of carbon neutrality is to be hit, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton has said in an interview with France’s Le Journal du Dimanche.

The European Commission has released to member states for consultation a draft of the complementary Delegated Act of the EU Taxonomy Regulation covering certain gas and nuclear activities. The Commission notes that in light of respective assessments "it is necessary to recognise that the fossil gas and nuclear energy sectors can contribute to the decarbonisation of the Union's economy."

The long-term operation of the existing fleet of nuclear power reactors will help the European Union achieve its emission reduction targets at an affordable cost, according to European nuclear trade body Foratom. In an updated position paper, it says the LTO of existing units will help achieve the interim 2030 targets, reduce the EU's energy import dependency and support the integration of a higher share of renewables.