EU Policy. Member states beef up safety rules amid growing nuclear power market

EU countries today (June 19) approved changes to rules on the use and transit of nuclear materials with a view to increasing safety as reliance on nuclear energy is set to grow within the coming decades, three EU diplomats told Euronews.

Discussions revolved mainly around the level of inspections of nuclear installations, the European Commission’s role as a watchdog and on ensuring nuclear materials will be used solely for power generation across the bloc, since nuclear became legally recognised in the EU as a low-carbon energy fit for the energy transition. 

The nuclear drive gained further impetus following the pledge by world leaders — including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, France, Hungary the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden — at COP28 in November to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, alongside political will expressed by the EU executive in Brussels to boost the sector.

The legislative revision, proposed by the Commission in December 2023 under the Euratom Treaty, is mostly targeted at operators of nuclear materials and sets out how risk avoidance declarations must be filed to the EU executive for verification. Operators would also need to share information at the earliest possible stage of nuclear facility’s life cycle, after significant modifications or at different stages of decommissioning, under the new updated law on the Euratom safeguards.

“The operation of nuclear facilities with the highest guarantees of safety, accountability, and traceability, in strict compliance with international and European regulations, is a priority for us,” an EU diplomat said, welcoming new provisions reflecting “technological advances made in the nuclear sector and digitisation since 2005”.

But