Is nuclear energy posing new dilemmas?

September 8, 2008

Pieter van Geel, the leader of the CDA in parliament (Dutch Christian democratic party, the biggest party in parliament) posted a weblog stating that nuclear energy is inevitable. The oil dependency and the CO2 challenges are sufficient reason for reconsidering nuclear energy, he says. No longer should we have a passive stance aimed at closing the last plant in 2013. Plans for building a new nuclear plant should be considered with open mind, says Van Geel. The CDA is not the only party to support nuclear energy. A majority in parliament is not impossible.
The question is whether anyone would be willing to finance a new nuclear plant? Most mainstream banks and investors exclude nuclear energy from their (sustainable) investment portfolios or credit policies. The (reputational) risk of such facility is simply considered to be too high. Would this change if the political support for nuclear energy would shift?
It is very hard to tell. But my guess is that not many mainstream Dutch financial institutions will make public statements about this any time soon. They know that nuclear energy is still a hot potato. Moreover, there is no need at all to rush. They will follow the political debate closely and test the weight and consistency of the political discourse before speaking out. A mind shift on nuclear energy may pose new dilemmas for the financial industry. But one thing is no dilemma for the sector: let’s stay out of this debate as long as we can.

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