Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson told the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris this week that EU legislation addressing nuclear's inclusion in the regional bloc's "green" taxonomy of sustainable activities would be "ready in the coming weeks." There are growing indications that the commission will be able to push through nuclear's inclusion in that taxonomy, which is all-important for making new nuclear financeable in Europe and even beyond. In a recent interview, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Reuters that it would be hard to rally 19 European Council members to block the proposal, as "it's difficult to stall the procedure as such once the European Commission has presented an act." And Simson's speech was a key indication that the commission has warmed to nuclear: there is "a growing sense of realism about the need for complementing renewables with baseload electricity production," said Simson, and "right now, nuclear power is the most prevalent low-carbon source providing the baseload needed for the stability of the electricity grid."
