Nuclear's EU comeback on show at Brussels summit
The Peninsula
Brussels, Belgium: Promoting nuclear power was long taboo in Brussels, but a high profile international summit Thursday will send loud and clear the m...
Brussels, Belgium: Promoting nuclear power was long taboo in Brussels, but a high-profile international summit Thursday will send loud and clear the message that atomic energy -- now touted by its champions as key to fighting climate change -- is back.
Gone are the days when Berlin's anti-nuclear stance set the tone: in the past two years atomic pioneer France has been decisive in crafting friendlier regulation, and putting nuclear back on the EU's agenda.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is organising this week's meet in Brussels, is a leading proponent of nuclear as a "clean and reliable source of energy."
"The world needs much more of it," says Grossi, who sees "a growing realisation that nuclear energy is an indispensable part of the solution to some of the most pressing global challenges of our time."
The IAEA's first summit held to promote nuclear energy brings together representatives from some 50 countries -- from the EU but also the United States and China -- and 25 leaders including France's Emmanuel Macron.
