Greece mulling nuclear energy
The issue of nuclear energy is becoming even more relevant today with the option seeming to be gaining traction with the government at the highest level. “It is a technology that is evolving and we must monitor it from now on to be ready when it matures to plan its eventual utilization,” the prime minister’s special adviser on energy, Nikos Tsafos, tells Kathimerini.
Tsafos sees two ways of utilization: Either with the participation of the country in some project of an interconnected European market, so that energy can enter the system and balance the variability of renewables; or by installing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), also known as “pocket” reactors, in Greece. He reveals that the comeback of nuclear energy internationally is not going unnoticed by the government, nor by large energy groups.
Tsafos’ comments follow those made by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis at The Economist conference recently. “Europe has been and remains a leading power in nuclear technology. Greece does not have nuclear power. There is no way to get to neutral emissions without nuclear power. So are we, as Europeans, investing in the next generation of SMRs? Have we really made the right choices for green transition?,” the PM wondered.
