FORATOM highlights importance of long-term operation of existing nuclear fleet “The intermediate decarbonization targets in the transition towards 2050 cannot be achieved without the LTO of existing nuclear power plants,” said FORATOM Director General Yves Desbazeille. “In fact, if the EU were to invest in maintaining a fully operational nuclear fleet over this period, 58% of its electricity would come from low-carbon sources by 2030 – making it the global leader on climate change policy. If not, the share would drop to 38%, increasing the cumulative emissions by around 1,500 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.” Meeting the EU’s ambition to decarbonize its economy will require using all low-carbon sources and the LTO of the existing nuclear fleet will have a significant impact on this transition. An increasing number of experts recognize that nuclear will have to play an important role if the world is to reach its CO2 reduction targets by mid-century. This means investing in Europe in both LTO and the construction of substantial new nuclear capacity (around 100GW of nuclear new build). Both are achievable if EU institutions, member states and the European nuclear industry work together in partnership.
EU Reporter 11th July 2019 read more »