nucleareurope discusses security of supply at VIGS event
On 26 June 2026, nucleareurope Communications & Advocacy Director Jessica Johnson participated in a panel discussion entitled “When Will the Lights Go Out in Europe?”, organised in Vienna by the Vienna Institute for Global Studies. The event explored pathways for Europe’s energy future, with a focus on ensuring energy security.
As part of her intervention, Jessica insisted on the importance of supporting homegrown clean energy sources such as nuclear and renewables in Europe. She stressed that such an approach will strengthen energy sovereignty, increase energy affordability and lead to faster decarbonisation.
“EU States with more nuclear and renewables in their power generation mix are able to generate lower cost electricity, with lower carbon intensity than their neighbours. Such a mix also supports a more reliable generation capacity with lower system costs” highlighted Jessica, adding that nuclear will be vital to respond to rising electricity demand, in particular from energy intensive sectors which require access to 24/7 electricity, in addition to other decarbonised energy sources such as heat and hydrogen.
Jessica then listed some key policies which could help increase the uptake of net-zero technologies. She specifically insisted on the importance of ensuring an equitable financial framework for all clean technologies, designing a technology neutral climate framework, and supporting the development of robust domestic supply chains.
She noted that such policies can help the nuclear sector deliver on significant planned investment across the whole nuclear value chain and, by demonstrating EU support for nuclear, facilitate the sector’s access to private financing.
Concluding her intervention, Jessica highlighted the need to support the ramp up of domestic nuclear fuel capacity in Europe. She called for the RePowerEU measures concerning nuclear to be announced rapidly, as they have the potential to provide the regulatory certainty needed for significant long-term investments in European fuel cycle activities.