nucleareurope discusses role of nuclear in the energy system at Bulatom conference
On 4 June 2025, nucleareurope Nuclear Technology Advisor Guilherme Cardoso participated in the Bulgarian Atomic Forum (Bulatom) 2025 Annual Conference, taking place in Varna. The conference brought together national and European policymakers, international institutions representatives and industrial stakeholders to discuss the role of nuclear in national, regional and global energy security.
In his intervention, Guilherme discussed the two latest reports commissioned by nucleareurope: a study on the economic and social impact of nuclear, released by Deloitte in June 2025, and the ‘pathways to 2050’ report, published by Compass Lexecon in October 2024. He detailed the findings of the reports, which both look at 3 different scenarios for nuclear installed capacity in the EU by 2050: 100 Gigawatt (GW), 150 GW, and 200 GW.
“The two reports show that increased nuclear capacity in the EU will bring significant benefits, and lead to faster decarbonisation, reduced costs, increase security of supply and strengthened competitiveness” stressed Guilherme, adding that nucleareurope’s projections, based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and recent announcements, estimate nuclear capacity in the EU to reach over 140 GW by 2050.
Delving into the specificities of each report, Guilherme noted that the Pathways to 2050 report focuses on the benefits of nuclear for decarbonisation as well as energy security and affordability. The report specifically highlights how in comparison to the 100 GW scenario, the 150GW scenario can allow to save around 430 million tonnes of CO2, save €310 billion in total power system costs and reduce hydrogen imports by up to 33%.
Guilherme then detailed the findings of the Deloitte study on the economic and social impact of nuclear, stressing key figures which highlight the current impact of the EU nuclear sector – a contribution of over €250 billion to the EU’s economy and close to 900.000 jobs sustained in 2023 – and its potential future benefits. He noted that similarly to the Pathways to 2050 report, the Deloitte study shows that an increase in nuclear capacity will be associated with strengthened EU competitiveness, additional jobs creation and significant revenues.
Guilherme concluded his intervention by highlighting initiatives to support the development of the nuclear workforce, such as the skills4nuclear project, in which nucleareurope participates.