European leaders and energy experts are expected to call for a revival of nuclear power on Thursday at a nuclear energy summit in Brussels to try to revive the European industry after several years of steady decline, Reuters reported, citing Agerpres.

Political support for the expansion of nuclear power is part of a larger plan to achieve Europe’s ambitious climate goals. But that momentum faces numerous obstacles, including a lack of investment, cost overruns and delays that have plagued recent projects.

Nuclear power has fallen out of favor in some European countries due to concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants after the 2011 Fukushima accident, which forced Germany to immediately shut down six plants and accelerate the shutdown of the rest.

In April last year, the last nuclear reactor was shut down in Germany. But the need to find alternatives to Russian gas after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as well as the commitment of the European Union to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, have revived interest in nuclear energy.

EU leaders call for “full disclosure of the potential of nuclear energy”

“We are committed to working to unlock the full potential of nuclear power by adopting measures such as favorable conditions for support and competitive financing to extend the life of existing nuclear reactors,” European leaders are expected to announce at a summit in Brussels in a joint statement previously obtained by Reuters .

The declaration also includes commitments to build new nuclear power plants and speed up the deployment of advanced reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs), while maintaining the highest level of safety.

In parallel, Europe must renew its expertise by training the next generation of nuclear specialists and expanding research activities to catch up with the rest of the world. However, the budget of the main research body EURATOM has been cut by 20% in 2021-2025.

“We have lost competence with the aging of the nuclear workforce and we must be careful to replace the competences in the near future… If we do not acquire new talent as a research organization, we will be in a difficult situation in 10 years,” said Bernard Magenhann, Deputy Director General of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.