Greece to look at small-scale nuclear development for power generation

Greece will set up a ministerial committee that will look into the development of small nuclear reactors to contribute to the country’s energy mix, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech in Paris on Tuesday.

“The time for my country has come to explore if nuclear power and especially if small nuclear reactors can play a role in the Greek power system,” he told a conference on nuclear power in Paris.

Greece largely relies on renewables – wind and solar – and imported gas for power generation, as it moves towards shutting its last remaining lignite plants by 2028.

“There is tremendous innovation and we know that our need for electricity is only going to grow. So no matter how much we expand renewables, we will need long-term, predictable base load power and no technology can match what the nuclear can offer us,” Mitsotakis said.

A top-level ministerial committee will be set up to make recommendations on the issue, he added.