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NUCLEAR POWER GRAB IN EUROPE? GRAB NUCLEAR POWER EUROPE? Corporate lobbyists and some Members of the European Parliament are working in tandem to spin the nuclear option as a sustainable solution for meeting future energy needs. he threats posed by climate change and diminishing energy supplies are high on the European Union's (EU's) political agenda. Meanwhile, a European nuclear industry group, FORATOM, is working with a committed group of pro-nuclear MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] to push the European Parliament (EP) to label nuclear energy as sustainable. Their strategy is to spin nuclear energy as the solution to the current energy threats, so that MEPs will vote on 14 December to greatly expand the EU's nuclear energy activity as a means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Energy is a hot issue in Brussels. On 10 January 2007, the Commission will publish its Strategic Review on Energy, to be preceded by a critical vote in the EP on 14 December 2006 on the so-called Morgan report on the Green Paper on Energy.' The rapidly growing and dramatic effects of climate change leave no doubt about the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. This need for action has unleashed a new phase in the tug of war between nuclear and renewable energy. This is supplemented by grand political talk linking broader trends in geopolitics with continuing energy supply needs. This combination creates a situation ripe for heavy lobbying. The need to fight climate change is not a new argument for the nuclear lobby, often labelled as its best friend. For 15 years the nuclear industry has been using the argument about the need to reduce CO: emissions as a last-chance attempt to lever itself back as a strong policy choice. Since the disaster at Chernobyl in 1986, nuclear energy has become an unpopular option among the public, within an increasing number of governments and among most EU decision-makers. For example, at present, only 12 per cent of European citizens are in favour of nuclear energy.’ With the threat of climate change, the nuclear industry has grasped an opportunity to campaign to be regarded as a solution. Yet, they lost a first big battle when the parties to the Kyoto Protocol banned nuclear energy as part of the so-called flexible mechanisms: the clean development mechanism (CDM) and joint implementation (JI). However, new circumstances offer fertile ground for the relaunch of the nuclear industry in the EU. These include: the decision by the Bush administration to stay out of the Kyoto Protocol; the hardening of climate positions by European industry, such as the employers' organisation UNICE; the entrance into the EU of new Eastern European members with a heavy reliance on nuclear energy; and the expansion in Brussels of radical right-wing think-tanks from the United States which advocate reactionary climate policies. Nuclear energy remains banned from the Kyoto market-based mechanisms (the CDM and JI) until 2012. However, all options remain open post-2012, in the context of ongoing negotiations. FORATOM, the Brussels-based trade association of the European nuclear industry, is doing its best to exploit these new openings. One key target is the European Parliament, where FORATOM has developed strong collaboration with a steady group of pro-nuclear MEPs. In October 2005, most of those MEPs signed a "Declaration on Climate Change and Nuclear Energy". Indeed, written into this declaration is the fact that it is the result of an initiative "launched by the European Atomic Forum (FORATOM)".* It calls for recognition of: "...the vital contribution made by the nuclear industry to reducing CO2 emissions... All low-carbon-intensive power generation technologies will need to contribute... However, we strongly believe that the increased use of nuclear energy, as the largest single contributor to the fight against climate change, is essential." The declaration explicitly calls for nuclear energy to be included in the Kyoto Protocol's by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) © December 2006 De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 6127023 Website: http://www.corporateeurope.org by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) © December 2006 De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 6127023 Website: http:/www.corporateeurope.org NEXUS = 11 The pro-nuclear lobby's campaign in the climate change debate FEBRUARY — MARCH 2007 www. nexusmagazine.com