nucleareurope discusses nuclear policy landscape at JRP Nucleare first Annual Conference
On 18 May 2026, nucleareurope Director General Emmanuel Brutin participated in the Milan-held nuclear Joint Research Partnership (JRP Nucleare) first Annual Conference. On the occasion of which he gave a keynote address on nuclear in Europe.
In his intervention, Emmanuel gave a short overview of nucleareurope, before discussing the importance of Italy in the European nuclear ecosystem. He specifically noted that even though nuclear is not currently part of Italy’s energy mix, a significant number of supply chain companies are based in the country, whether for manufacturing, metalworking, assembly or engineering services.
“The Italian supply chain will be vital for the nuclear industry to deliver on planned investments across the EU, with installed nuclear capacity in Europe set to reach close to 150Gigawatts (GW) by 2050, compared to around 100GW today” stressed Emmanuel, adding that these investments concern both large and small new build, as well as lifetime extension of existing power plants.
Emmanuel then detailed nuclear’s role in the EU energy system, noting that currently, almost a quarter of electricity generated in the EU comes from nuclear, and that the technology is key to energy sovereignty, affordability, competitiveness and grid stability. He also insisted on the importance of an enabling policy framework to ensure that the sector can deliver on these investments, and welcomed recent policy developments at EU level, such as the publication of the Nuclear illustrative Programme (PINC), support for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), especially through the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs, as well as recent European Investment Bank loan to nuclear stakeholders.
Concluding his intervention, Emmanuel called for the EU to build on these policies with concrete actions, as outlined in nucleareurope’s recent Policy Action Plan. He specifically stressed the need to ensure a long term policy framework, access to finance, regulatory acceleration, support to diversification efforts, enrichment capacity growth and assembly capacity in the EU, as well as support to the nuclear supply chain.