Faced with new energy shock, Europe asks if reviving nuclear is the answer

Faced with new energy shock, Europe asks if reviving nuclear is the answer 13 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKatya AdlerEurope EditorAFP via Getty ImagesBelgium is one of a number of European countries revising their nuclear strategyWith a pit in their stomach, families and industries across Europe are watching gas prices and the cost of filling vehicles with petrol spiral.While the UK government has told voters pretty much to keep calm and carry on, the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has called on people to work more from home and to travel a lot less. Policymakers warn things could get much worse - depending on what happens next in the Middle East. Yet it feels like only yesterday that Europeans faced a cost-of-living crisis on the back of spiralling energy costs and inflation following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.This means conversations in Europe are turning (again) to the issue of energy independence. And nuclear energy seems to be back in fashion as part of a home-grown European energy mix - in the UK as well as the EU. But how quick a fix can nuclear be - and how safe and reliable is it really?AFPEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the war had exposed the continent's fossil-fuel "vulnerability"At the recent European Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who perhaps forgot she was a minister in the German government when it took the decision to phase out nuclear power plants in 2011, described Europe broadly turning its back on nuclear as a "strategic mistake".In 1990, Europe produced around a third of its electricity from nuclear power. That has now fallen to an average of 15%, leaving the continent "completely dependent on expensive and volatile imports" of fossil fuels, she said, putting Europe at a disadvantage compared with other regions of the world.Europe imports more than 50% of its energy. Mainly oil and...