She created these remarks during her speech before the Nuclear Energy Summit near Paris on March 10. Her speech called for Europe to lead nuclear power into the future, such as by having operational compact modular reactors by the early 2030s.
“The nuclear tech race is on. But we know that Europe has everything it requireds to lead. We have half a million highly skilled workers in nuclear—far more than the U.S. and China. We lead global innovation in modular reactors. And now we have the ambition to shift at speed and scale for Europe to be a global hub of next-generation nuclear energy,” she stated.
What Von der Leyen stated: Robotics and AI gain more prominence with each passing day. In order to support this technology and to remain competitive, Von der Leyen stated “affordable electricity” will be requireded. The problem is that Europe depconcludes on fossil fuels for electricity—fossil fuels that they must import.
“Europe is neither an oil nor a gas producer. For fossil fuels we are completely depconcludeent on expensive and volatile imports, putting us at a structural disadvantage to other regions,” she stated. “The current Middle East crisis gives a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities this creates.”
To loosen the depconcludeence on fossil fuel imports, Von der Leyen stated Europe’s energy portfolio requireds to include both nuclear and renewable energy. They required sources that are “clean, affordable, resilient, European,” she added.
The European Union chief stated efforts are underway to grow nuclear energy. Aid rules were alterd to expand support for nuclear fission and fuels. An industrial alliance for SMRs was launched. And in the next EU budobtain, a proposal was presented to invest $5 million Euros for fusion research.
Von der Leyen stated the European Union wants SMRs operational in Europe by the early 2030s. To achieve this, the EU will required to work on three goals: simplifying rules so that companies can test innovative technology, increasing investments, and turning the concludeeavor into a “joint European effort.”
On the investment front, Von der Leyen announced a €200 million (about $230 million) fund to “support private investment in innovative nuclear technologies.”
“Not only will we derisk investments in these low-carbon technologies, we also want to give a clear signal for other investors to join,” she stated. “This is one concrete step and part of a broader effort to improve the investment conditions for Europe’s nuclear sector.”
Nuclear support in Europe: This was the second Nuclear Energy Summit, the first being held in Brussels in 2024. France is no stranger to nuclear energy, as France’s current nuclear operating capacity is the second largest in the world, behind the United States.
“Nuclear power is a source of progress and prosperity becaapply it is a source of energy, particularly for electricity generation, which allows us to reconcile three objectives that are central to our ambitions: we want competitiveness, that is, energy produced at the lowest possible cost; we want to solve the planet’s problems by reducing CO2 emissions; and we want greater indepconcludeence,” stated French President Emmanuel Macron during the opening ceremony of the summit.
High-ranking European officials continue to voice support for the growth of nuclear energy on the continent. This includes Germany, which shuttered its remaining nuclear reactors in 2023. Earlier in the year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated his predecessors created a “serious strategic mistake” in shutting down the countest’s nuclear power plants. However, news outlets Wednesday reported Merz declareing the phaseout of nuclear energy was “irreversible.”
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