Europe and North American Unions Raise Voices for Nuclear Power Needed for Carbon Neutrality

"An Important Means to Achieve COP26 Goals"... IAEA Also Emphasized the Importance of Nuclear Power in Last Month's Report

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Representatives of 12 labor unions from Europe and North America advocated for the necessity of nuclear power at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, UK. They argued that nuclear power can be an important means to achieve COP26’s goal of carbon neutrality and urged world leaders to reconsider the effectiveness of nuclear power.

According to the Associated Press on the 4th (local time), the representatives of the 12 labor unions stated in a declaration, "COP26 is an opportunity to choose carbon-free energy, good jobs, and sustainable prosperity," adding, "This means that nuclear power should be chosen as part of a balanced energy system." The declaration included participation from the UK’s General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union (GMB), France’s Confederation of Management ? General Confederation of Executives (CFE-CGC), Canada’s nuclear power union, as well as unions from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania.

They emphasized, "The world wants clean and reliable nuclear energy," and "Nuclear power also provides quality jobs." They added that nuclear power is more labor-intensive than eco-friendly energy industries such as wind power.

They also pointed out, "While nuclear power has always been a politically heated issue, there has not been sufficient scientific debate," emphasizing, "Experts are confident that nuclear power is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality."

Amid a global energy crisis ahead of COP26, controversies surrounding nuclear power have intensified. Especially in Europe, as the perception spreads that natural gas prices are soaring due to Russia’s resource weaponization strategy, voices calling for reconsideration of nuclear power from an energy security perspective are growing louder. In several European countries reliant on coal power, the soaring price of natural gas as an alternative fuel has naturally increased interest in nuclear power.

This situation was also reflected in the ‘Korea-Visegrad Group (V4, a cooperation framework of four Central European countries: Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland) Summit’ held after the COP26 summit.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi? requested active participation from Korea in the bidding process related to the new nuclear power project in the Dukovany region of the Czech Republic.

During the Korea-Poland summit, President Moon Jae-in expressed to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki his hope that cooperation between the two countries would expand into infrastructure, defense, and nuclear power sectors. Poland generates 70% of its electricity from coal power. Poland plans to significantly reduce coal power to achieve its future carbon neutrality goals and intends to build several nuclear power plants to secure energy security.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emphasized the necessity of nuclear power in a report titled "Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World," released in mid-last month, two weeks before the opening of COP26. The IAEA argued in the report that nuclear power can play a decisive role in achieving the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, or ideally within 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi recently stressed the need for nuclear power amid rising uncertainties in the energy market caused by soaring natural gas prices in Europe and coal prices in China. Ahead of COP26, Director General Grossi stated, "In a situation where energy market uncertainties are increasing, we must adopt the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality," adding, "We must clearly recognize that to successfully achieve the carbon neutrality goal amid various challenges, all options must be considered."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.