Nuclear, electricity or what?

As early as May 2022, the European Commission launched the REPowerEU initiative to curb gas consumption and accelerate the expansion of wind and solar power. By February 2026, Europe had added 406 GW of solar capacity and 234 GW of wind, pushing renewables to just over 47 percent of its electricity mix.

Yet despite this rapid transition, natural gas-fired power generation remains an unavoidable fall-back for many European countries. In Germany, where the nuclear phase-out was accelerated after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 and completed in 2023, calls to reconsider nuclear energy have grown following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Even European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged at a nuclear summit in Paris this March that "it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power."

According to Projected Costs of Generating Electricity, a report published by the IEA, the lifecycle emissions of nuclear power are comparable to those of wind, making it an important component of the EU's decarbonization strategy. "It is common sense that nuclear power is clean, and it was largely political considerations that led Germany to phase out the phaseout policy," said Wu Jiang, a professor at the School of German Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

However, reversing the phaseout policy would take time. "Training engineers cannot be completed within a few years," said Ying Xiao, a nuclear industry analyst. "For a country like Germany, rebuilding nuclear infrastructure is not so much a technological challenge — given its advanced industrial base — but a question of human resources."

"When will this war end? I've had enough of high oil prices — I need to make a living," said George, the Brussels taxi driver.

On March 20, US officials said additional Marines and an amphibious assault ship were being deployed to the Middle East. "The US military can take out Kharg Island (Iran's main oil export terminal) at any time," the BBC quoted a White House official as saying, adding that while there were no immediate plans to deploy ground troops, "all options remain on the table."

So far, there is no other answer to George's question.

Contact the writers at zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn.

Xing Yi in London contributed to this story.