EU Nuclear Trade Body Foratom Calls for 100 New Reactors by 2050

World Nuclear News reported that Foratom said the EU should maintain at least its current nuclear generation capacity to 2050 and beyond, entailing the start of more than 100 nuclear power reactors over the next 35 years.
As quoted in the market news:

This target would deliver 122 GWe of nuclear capacity between 2025 and 2045.
The nuclear trade body for the EU, Foratom stated the target after submitting a position paper to the European Commission on the planned publication of a revised version of the Illustrative Program for Nuclear Energy, known as PINC. The EC is mandated by the Euratom Treaty to periodically issue a new PINC to indicate targets and program for nuclear production and the corresponding investment required
“Altogether we can expect at least 14 EU Member States to be operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) in 2050. When built, new NPPs have many advantages in the electricity market: they are designed to operate for a long time (60 or even 80 years subject to the national safety regulator’s approval); have relatively low fuel and other operating costs; can be centrally and flexibly dispatched; and provide predictable output,” it said.
Foratom, which is based in Brussels, said it welcomed the intention of the European Commission to publish a PINC by the end of this year.
Confirmation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that nuclear power is “an effective greenhouse gas mitigation option” needs to be underlined in the PINC, Foratom said. Major investments will be required in nuclear new build, lifetime extension and safety upgrades, fuel cycle operations, decommissioning and waste management, it said.
Nuclear energy contributes to all three objectives of EU energy policy, it said. These are security of supply, decarbonisation of the electricity sector and competitive power prices.

Click here to read the full World Nuclear News report.