The Argument against Nuclear Power as Sustainable for Finance

Copy of Letter to Commissioner McGuinness delivered on 13 January 2022

Dear Signatories,

Your signatures and accompanying comments were today issued to Commissioner McGuinness, DG-FISMA with the accomanying information summarised below.

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Dear Commissioner McGuinness,  

The Co-chairs and members of the EU Taxonomy Technical Expert Group tasked with development of ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) technical screening criteria of Annex I and II of the EU Taxonomy (2018-2020) and supporting independent nuclear and sustainability experts share with the European Commission our concerns and argument against the inclusion of nuclear fission energy sources in the EU Taxonomy, as contained in the attached Statement ‘Europe’s ‘science-based’ Sustainable Finance Taxonomy is politicised to include nuclear power’ dated 21 December 2021.   

This Statement was delivered to the Commission and Sustainable Finance Platform on the above date and we again attach it for your attention along with over 1,200 signatories from science, engineering, safety, financial and legal professionals, as well as wider civil society.   We trust that you will give our concerns due attention and remain faithful to TEG recommendations to the Commission that nuclear cannot be considered eligible for the EU Taxonomy.  

Yours Sincerely, Dawn Slevin, Dr. Erik Laes, Paolo Masoni, Jochen Krimphoff, Fabrizio Varriale,Andrea Di Turi, Dr. Ulrich Ofterdinger, Dr. Dolores Byrne, Ursula Hartenberger, Dr. Paul Dorfman, Dr. Petra Kuenkel, Anders Wijkman, Dr. Petra Seibert, Rebecca Harms, József Kóbor, Michel Lee, Dr. Stuart Parkinson, Dr. Ian Fairlie, Dr. Walter Wildi, Marcos Buser, Christiana Mauro, and Philippe de Rougemont.

Argument against Nuclear - Update and Further Info

Dear Signatories,

Thank you for signing our petition and for sharing your comments regarding the proposed inclusion of nuclear energy on the EU Taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities - The Argument against Nuclear Power as Sustainable for Finance.

We encourage you to share our petition with your colleagues, friends and networks so that we can capture the viewpoints of those who support this action to prevent nuclear fission power from being incorrectly labelled as environmentally sustainable thereby undermining the ‘do no significant harm’ principle and technical screening criteria of the EU Taxonomy.   An updated Statement of Concern will be sent to the European Commission over the coming days along with the most up-to-date list of signatories to our petition along with your comprehensive and valid comments against nuclear as sustainable for finance.  The petition will remain live thereafter.

Other nuclear and environmental experts and policy actors are also taking concrete steps to stop the proposed inclusion of nuclear on the EU Taxonomy including:  

• Wolfgand Rennenberg (former lead German nuclear regulation) has sent a Communique to the Commission, signed by leading nuclear experts: Dr. Greg Jaczko, former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,  Prof. Wolfgang Renneberg, former Head of the Reactor Safety, Radiation Protection and Nuclear Waste, Federal Environment Ministry, Germany; Dr. Bernard Laponche, former Director General, French Agency for Energy Management, former Advisor to French Minister of Environment, Energy and Nuclear Safety; and Dr. Paul Dorfman, former Secretary UK Govt. Committee Examining Radiation Risk from Internal Emitters.
• The Green Party launched a petition ‘Meltdown for Europe’s Energy Transition: Stop the Greenwashing of Nuclear Power and Gas.’ (the link must be found directly on your browser)
• Austria and Luxembourg are preparing a lawsuit on the grounds that the delegated act is null and void, as there is no jurisdiction over nuclear power in the EU taxonomy.  

Update on the proposed Regulation labelling Nuclear as Environmentally Sustainable

As an update, the Commission has issued the proposed draft Regulation for the inclusion of nuclear energy to the Council and Parliament on New Year’s Eve, see link here. A summary of the regulatory stages from here is understood as follows:  

• The member states can give feedback on their proposal to the EU Commission by January 12th next.  
• Then the EU Commission will submit a final proposal for the delegated act on gas and nuclear power to the EU Parliament and the member states. The timing is not yet advised.
• After that, the member states have 4 months in the council to be able to reject the proposal of the delegated legal act of the EU commission in the council of ministers with a so-called reinforced qualified majority of 20 of the 27 member states. In the EU Parliament, the delegated act can be rejected with an absolute majority of the members of the Parliament. This period can be extended by a further 2 months.  
• Please keep up your valuable support and presence on this critical issue in order to prevent the inclusion of nuclear power on the EU Taxonomy and to protect future generations from a legacy of nuclear waste.

Yours Sincerely,

Dawn Slevin, Dr. Erik Laes, Paolo Masoni, Jochen Krimphoff, Fabrizio Varriale, Andrea Di Turi, Dr. Ulrich Ofterdinger, Dr. Dolores Byrne, Dr. Petra Kuenkel, Ursula Hartenberger, Kosha Joubert, Dr. Paul Dorfman, Anders Wijkman, Prof. Petra, Seibert, Rebecca Harms, Joseph Kobor, Michel Lee, Dr. Stuart Parkinson, and Dr. Ian Fairlie.

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