4 Debates
At a nuclear energy summit near Paris attended by representatives from around 40 countries, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new financial support for nuclear power projects on Tuesday, describing the nuclear phase-out of recent years as a "strategic mistake". The development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) was also discussed at the meeting. Europe's press is at odds.
The British government under Keir Starmer has committed to investing 14.2 billion pounds (around 16.8 billion euros) in the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear plant on England's east coast. According to estimates the project will take around ten years to complete. There have been major delays in the construction of a similar reactor, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, and the plant is not expected to start operating until 2030, more than a decade later and costing billions more than originally planned.
Large-scale power outages plunged more than 60 million people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France into chaos on Monday. The internet and mobile phones went dead, traffic systems came to a halt, and homes and business were left without electricity. Although the power supply has been restored, the cause of the blackout remains unclear, but the grid operator has ruled out a cyberattack. Commentators draw their own conclusions.
A long-prepared and technically complicated step took place without a hitch on the weekend: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania severed their last remaining connection with the post-Soviet electricity system, known as the Brell ring, on Saturday, and synchronised their electricity grids with the rest of Europe. Commentators hail the switch as a historic step but also point to the challenges it poses.
