Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that Greece will, for the first time, examine the prospect of nuclear power in its current energy mix.
He also announced the possibility of cooperation with Romania and Bulgaria, according to Bloomberg. This is a tectonic shift in Greece, a country that has traditionally shunned nuclear power - partly because of significant seismic activity, but also because of opposition from a significant part of society, according to Profit.ro.
Mitsotakis made the statement as EU leaders struggle to cope with rapidly rising energy prices due to the war in Iran. ”It is time for my country to explore whether nuclear energy and, in particular, small modular reactors can play a role in the Greek energy system”, the prime minister said in a speech at a nuclear energy event in Paris, adding that the government will set up a high-level ministerial committee to issue a definitive recommendation on the matter. ”This is a common sense position. Nuclear energy is changing rapidly, there are accelerating technological advances. There is tremendous innovation. And we know that our need for electricity will only grow. So no matter how much we expand renewables, we will need a predictable long-term base power. And no technology can match what nuclear power can give us”Prime Minister Mitsotakis told the Nuclear Energy Summit. Mitsotakis acknowledged that any plan to develop nuclear power units in Greece would likely face backlash. ”We know that nuclear energy presents challenges. Public opinion in Greece, as in other countries, is still divided. But I think we need to have an honest, thoughtful and non-ideological dialog”he said.