Macron will win French election due to split opposition says Lees

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The nuclear industry body Foratom has warned that ambiguities and misunderstandings contained the EU’s leaked draft proposal result in nuclear power plants being unable to claim a green investment label under the bloc’s sustainable finance taxonomy. The EU taxonomy for sustainable activities is a system of classification that is established to determine which investments are environmentally sustainable.

This system was created in the wake of the European Green Deal in July 2020 and was made to help prevent “greenwashing” among different investments.

According to Reuters, the draft of the proposal would label nuclear power plant investments as green if the project has a plan, funds and a site to safely dispose of radioactive waste.

To be considered green, new nuclear plants must acquire construction permits before 2045.

However, based on the current proposed rules, no nuclear power plant would be able to claim the green investment label, Foratom said.

One of the requirements that the power plants must abide by to qualify for funding is to use “the best available technology and accident-tolerant fuel”.

However, Foratom says that fuel is still in the research phase and is currently not available or licenced anywhere.

Speaking to EURACTIV, Jessica Johnson, communications director at Foratomsaid: “As it currently stands, no nuclear entity is covered by the taxonomy because of this.

“If the text does not change, then we do have problems, particularly in relation to accident tolerant fuels – they don’t exist on the market today.”

In a letter sent to the EU executive, Foratom said: “Given that Accident-Tolerant Fuels are still at the research phase we believe this requirement should be removed and instead limited to existing legislation and best available technologies.”

In the letter, the nuclear energy industry leaders also suggested that: ​​”The production of heat and hydrogen from existing nuclear plants and advanced technologies should also be covered by the taxonomy.

“More flexibility, and certainty, should be granted to research and innovation in the nuclear field.

“In line with the principle of technology neutrality, nuclear investments should not be subject to separate disclosure requirements.”

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This news may be particularly damagin to French President Emmanuel Macron, who lobbied heavily for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy, despite facing strong resistance from some other members of the bloc.

As France derives around 70 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, it is perhaps no surprise that it has been pressing the EU to classify nuclear as green.

By failing to enact effective EU legislation that boosts nuclear energy, Mr Macron’s chances may suffer in the upcoming 2022 presidential election.

A recent poll found centre-right Les Republicains party candidate, Valérie Pecrésse tying with President Macron in a second round of the election
Chosen to run last month by rank-and-file members of the conservative Les Republicains party, voter surveys show Ms Pecresse could beat Mr Macron in April’s election.

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