Policymakers, industry discuss role of nuclear for energy sovereignty at #NuclearEurope2026
On 1 and 2 June 2026, nucleareurope organised its annual conference, #NuclearEurope2026, in Brussels, welcoming over 200 participants, including high-level officials from the European institutions and EU Member States, industry executives and international organisations representatives to discuss security of supply, industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation. The event, entitled ‘Powering a Sovereign EU’ specifically allowed to tackle topics related to EU energy policy and 2040 framework; electrification, heat & hydrogen; AI & industry; the role of SMRs/AMRs and financing.
Following a welcome from nucleareurope President Xavier Ursat, the conference opened with a high-level session, with speeches from European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen, who discussed electrification, nuclear development projections, and new nuclear, Dutch Minister for Energy Infrastructure and Nuclear Affairs Jo-Annes de Bat who discussed energy policy in the Netherlands, Cristian Busoi, State Secretary at the Romanian Ministry of Energy, who outlined Romania’s nuclear development plans and Catalyse Europe’s President Ann Mettler who highlighted shifts in the energy policy discussion in recent years, as Europe faces yet another energy crisis. The session was closed by an intervention from Mr. Ursat, who presented nucleareurope’s policy priorities.
The opening session was followed by a fireside chat between conference moderator Sonja Van Renssen and Orano’s Jacques Peythieux, who discussed nuclear fuel capacity in Europe, before the first panel of the conference set the scene from a demand perspective, exploring how nuclear can support meeting the needs of European consumers. Panellists included Member of the European Parliament Christophe Grudler and European Commission’s Valere Moutarlier, who each provided a policy perspective, European Metals Director General James Watson, who stressed the importance of security of supply, and the role of nuclear in providing a stable source of electricity for the metals industry, and AtkinsRéalis’s Julien Berthet, who brought in a nuclear-specific angle, and discussed supply chain.
The conference’s first day concluded with a high-level dinner and a keynote address from European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra. He specifically insisted on the need for homegrown net-zero technologies to reinforce energy security and tackle climate change.
The second day of the conference opened with a fireside chat with Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) CEO Marek Woszczyk, who gave an overview of current plans for nuclear new build in Poland, followed by a session exploring the evolution of State aid for new nuclear power plants. Building on examples from the experience of industry and Member States representatives (PEJ’s Marcin Kaminski, EDF’s Antoine Bizet, Nuclearelectrica’s Gheorghe-Octavian Roşca-Năstase, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic’s Monika Boksova) and the expertise of Compass Lexecon’s Fabien Roques, the discussion highlighted best practices for State aid applications.
The second fireside chat of the day, with Eagles consortium’s Vincent Schryvers, explored topics related to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), the closing of the fuel cycle and the need for policymaker support for new nuclear. It was followed by a panel on electrification and other sources of decarbonised European energy, which explored policy needs to produce sovereign energy for sovereign industry, and nuclear’s role in the power system. Panellists included European Commission’s Pierre Schellekens, Agora Industry’s Florie Gonsolin, GE Vernova’s Bertrand Deprez, and Electrification Alliance’s Adrian Hiel.
The final fireside chat of the day, with McKinsey’s Benjamin Sauer, was dedicated to questions related to the cost of nuclear assets, and ways to support the deployment of new nuclear. It set the scene for the panel that followed, on financing. Insights from Polish Ministry of Energy’s Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure and Secretary of State Wojciech Wrochna, newcleo’s Elisabeth Rizzotti, J.P. Morgan’s Suchi Sundaram, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Henri Paillère and European Commission’s Jan Panek provided a global picture of policy needs and financing models for nuclear assets.
After two days of insightful discussions, the event was closed by nucleareurope Director General Emmanuel Brutin, who thanked participants, and stressed that the positive shift in the political discourse around nuclear energy now needs to be translated into concrete actions, such as the ones listed in nucleareurope’s Policy Action Plan.