The newly elected Donald Trump is changing the game in the energy across landscape with a shift towards nuclear power evident more than ever. This sift is apparent in countries like the U.S., India Norway and Southern Europe, with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hinting that Greece could potentially join this nuclear push.
In a recent campaign speech, Trump mentioned that he would bring “advanced small modular nuclear reactors,” which he considers to have advantages over larger nuclear power plants, citing “cost overruns” as a key factor.
The question is how strong and to what extend will Trump influence the nuclear sector on a global scale not only due to its impact on the environment but more so because of high investment costs required for nuclear power production.
According to a study on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) carried out in Greece by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), which was presented recently at the 28th National Conference “Energy and Development 2024,” the investment cost is extremely high, ranging from 1.9 billion to 3.9 billion euros, or 5,500 to 11,600 euros per kilowatt (kW).
In any case, discussions regarding nuclear power on a political and business level have intensified recently, with major technology companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon are shifting towards nuclear energy. Just last Tuesday, Norsk Kjernekraft signed a memorandum of understanding with the nuclear reactor development company X-energy to explore, among other things, the development of SMRs in Norway.
In a joint report NRG-Pallas and TNO have concluded that SMRs could contribute to the energy transition in the Netherlands, suggesting there is potential to install more than 13 SMRs by 2050.
Last Monday, Mitsotakis, brought Greece into the discussion on nuclear energy speaking at two events, one hosted by Bloomberg and another at the GenAI Summit. “We do not have a background in nuclear energy in Greece, but we would certainly be interested in exploring this technology and seeing where it could lead us.” He noted.
He pointed out that Greece has islands that require decentralized systems, highlighting that it is not always necessary or feasible for all of these systems to be interconnected with the national electricity transmission grid.
According to the prime minister, nuclear energy will be part of the energy mix, emphasizing that it is a green technology. He also expressed the view that a technology should not be rejected simply because it includes aspects we do not favor.
“I have argued that when we talk about reducing emissions, we need to be technologically agnostic; therefore, we shouldn’t say, ‘This is the path we absolutely must follow,” Mitsotakis claimed.
