Decision to turn back on nuclear was a strategic mistake, EU’s Von der Leyen says
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/decision-turn-back-nuclear-was-strategic-mistake-eus-von-der-leyen-says-2026-03-10/
Posted by PjeterPannos
28 Comments
Lol…
I can’t stand these Germans anymore.
No shit Sherlock.
I could have told them myself, but better late than never.
Despite the “phasing out”, Europe has more nuclear power than any other continent and several new nuclear power plants have in fact opened in the past few years like Flamanville-3 in France (France gets 70% of their electricity from nuclear btw), and the one in Finland, plus the many other under construction like hinkley point in the UK which has been delayed for decades now.
This statement by von Der Leyen is just performative pandering, she knows people are pissed about energy prices so now she will attempt to bullshit the public and take the blame off her and put it on “anti nuclear” people. The energy problem is a lot more complicated and a few 35 year old power plants in Germany wouldn’t make a tiny bit of difference. In fact even if all electricity was nuclear, electricity is like just 15% of energy consumption, we’d still be getting absolutely fucked by the oil prices right now.
Did EU ever turn it’s back on nuclear? I recall Germany did, but France continued to build new stations, Finland has built new one recently. It may not have been popularized as much as PV/wind, but it was country-level decision in most cases.
No shit, Sherlock
Can’t make this up … 2 years ago she said nuclear energy was not strategic for EU decarbonisation. She’s so German.
Nuclear is so not clean so instead we’re burning coal for 50% of our power need, Germany in a nutshell. As a Swede, fuck you.
Oh who would’ve thought that listening to Greta and gutting Europe’s electrical independence through nuclear would be fucking stupid.
Gosh, almost as if the French knew something.
This is what happens when folk allow opinions to dictate policy over facts and knowledge.
It’s hard to grasp the actual damage that Merkel caused not only Germany, but the entire Union.
thanks Greenpeace russian agents
In Italy, we had two referenda on nuclear: one in 1987, and one in 2011. Both expressed negative preference of the Italian population about the construction of nuclear plants on Italian soil.
Now, the wisest of you would naturally ask: why did the vote of the average person have to be taken into consideration, for a policy about an industry so complex and so nuanced as nuclear energy generation? That’s a good point to make.
Then, the most well-versed in recent history would be flabbergasted by the years the two referenda were held in: 1987 and 2011. Do you remember when the two most famous nuclear disasters took place? Yep. Chernobyl, 1986; Fukushima, 2011. One year before the first referendum, and just a few months before the second.
Do I need to whip out my tinfoil hat?
No shit Sherlock. Even the 15yo on Reddit knew before you did.
Are you going to do something about it?
Was very well known at the time or even prior to that. What other “decisions” are they making that are complete nonsense? Chat Control?
Ok. FCK germans in this case and just build NPP in Ukraine and drag bigass cable through Poland to zee germans
France was right on many things.
She’s a moron, in bed with big industry and huge money. There will be no renaissance. Nuclear energy is the most expensive one and incompatible with renewables. Just when battery storage is becoming viable and affordable, big energy raises it’s ugly head again, crying for subsidies.
Big plants are vulnerable, nuclear plants are crazily vulnerable. Decentralizing is the way to go.
Better late than never… but damn the damage done is significant.
>Europe produced around a third of electricity from nuclear power in 1990 but that has fallen to 15%, she told an event in Paris, leaving it reliant on oil and gas imports whose prices have surged in recent days.
[Literally ~two days ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1rng4uo/in_2025_solar_and_wind_produced_more_electricity/):
https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/in-2025-solar-and-wind-produced-more-electricity-than-fossil-fuels-in-the-european-union
Meanwhile we have gone from basically 0% from renewables in the 1990s to ~30% and climbing.
Remind me Flintenuschi, who killed off our domestic solar industry? And who (sucessfully) got people to invest in new gas heating furnaces instead of heatpumps to ~~own the libs~~ the greens? Who’s party is currently trying to (yet again) kill off renewable projects?
Oh, CDU/CSU.
*I guess ending reliance on fossil fuels can’t be that much a pressing issue then.*
Flintenuschi is a symptom of a bigger problem, and I am terribly sorry that she’s now spread to the EU at large.
**Geopolitics: Germany Successfully Completes Its ‘Strategic Triple Crown’ of Total Dependence**
BERLIN — The German government has proudly unveiled its new three-step master plan for “European Autonomy.” The visionary strategy includes shutting down carbon-free nuclear plants to rediscover the rustic charm of coal, financing the Russian military through “subscription-based” gas pipelines, and outsourcing national defense to U.S. fighter jets that require a software update from Fort Worth just to retract the landing gear.
“It’s a triumph of German engineering,” a spokesperson explained. “After decades of careful planning, we’ve finally achieved the impossible: a sovereign nation that literally cannot function without the permission of two other superpowers.”
Officials say the policy framework, internally known as Strategic Interdependence™, ensures Berlin will remain deeply integrated into the global order by depending on Moscow for heat and Washington for air superiority.
Economists praised the elegant symmetry of the approach. “Most countries diversify their strategic vulnerabilities,” said one analyst. “Germany has managed to consolidate them into a single, streamlined system.”
Government leaders confirmed the next phase of the initiative is already under review, tentatively titled ‘Quadruple Crown’, which would involve importing sunshine from Spain.
Nuclear is fine. No need to go all in on it but it is a very clean and safe energy source. It is excellent for diversifying the electricity production. I think this is what EU should do, have a bit of everything. There is even a place for coal as well.
That’s not what ya’ll jokers were saying in 2011 in your post-Fukushima hysteria.
From a german Lady : [Palpatine Face] “Ironic”
YOU THINK ?
literally everything the EU does is a mistake.
It is only a mistake if you dont have a solution for the missing energy base if you turn your back on nucular. You need to build new plants or force people to use less energy
You mispelled germany