The countries agreed to support new projects alongside existing nuclear power plants, according to a statement released during a two-day meeting of EU energy ministers in Stockholm, the AFP said.
"Nuclear energy is one of many tools for achieving our climate targets" to produce electricity to meet consumer demand and "for security of supply," the statement reads.
Other than Poland and France, which spearheaded the effort to build closer European nuclear energy ties, the group consists of Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“I cannot imagine heavy industry or sensitive infrastructure such as schools and hospitals relying solely on renewable energy sources,” Poland’s Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa told Polish state news agency PAP during the Stockholm meeting.
She added that traditional energy sources were essential and that their availability should be ensured, the PAP news agency reported.
“If Europe wants to develop renewable energy sources, then for the sake of security, we urge the availability of reliable energy sources such as coal, gas, biomass, geothermal and nuclear,” Moskwa told PAP. "They must always be in the picture."
Paris believes nuclear power can help Europe achieve its climate objectives, especially to produce "green" hydrogen for transport and industry, according to the AFP.
However, the issue of nuclear power has divided the bloc and several EU states are fiercely opposed, with Germany and Spain leading the criticism, the AFP reported.
Warsaw has been planning a national nuclear programme for years but the question of energy security took on added urgency after Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.
Alongside US and South Korean companies, France is also keen on joining Poland’s nuclear energy drive through its state-controlled multinational electric utility company Électricité de France (EDF).
In October 2021, EDF made an offer to the Polish government to build six European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) units.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said the country plans to build a total of “six reactors in three nuclear power plants.”
The first unit of a new Polish nuclear power plant is expected to be put into operation in 2033, under a long-term energy policy adopted by the government in 2021.
(mo/gs)
Sources: PAP, AFP