Luxembourg argues about energy, but refuses to go nuclear

During a plenary session in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies, a heated debate on the country's energy policy erupted. The occasion was a request from Joëlle Welfring, a member of the Green Party (déi Gréng), who expressed concern that the government has not yet developed a clear and coherent strategy, especially in the context of the growing climate agenda and energy instability in Europe.

At the centre of the dispute was Luxembourg's attitude to nuclear energy. Although the country does not have its own nuclear power plants, its geographical proximity to France and Belgium, which actively use nuclear power, makes the topic highly topical. Welfring recalled that the government, including the prime minister, has shied away from concrete action: "When you ask what has been done since the parliamentary resolution - you get the answer: 'meetings with the French and Belgians are planned'. Impressive!"

Jeff Boonen spoke on behalf of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV). He reiterated that the CSV's position remains the same: nuclear energy is unacceptable because of the unresolved problem of waste storage and the potential catastrophic consequences, especially for border Luxembourg. However, he called for a realistic approach: "There is no point in challenging decisions at EU level - they have been democratically adopted and upheld by the courts. It is time to focus on the future, not on symbolic lawsuits."

Democratic Party (DP) MP Luc Emering also spoke out against nuclear energy and called for greater investment in renewable sources: hydrogen, biogas and agrophotovoltaics. However, he recognised that if Europe continues to invest in nuclear, it will be primarily in waste treatment and storage technologies.

Franz Fayot, a Socialist MP (LSAP), recalled that his party voted against the construction of the Remerschen nuclear power plant back in 1977. He criticised the "new fashion" for nuclear energy at EU level, pointing out that its inclusion in the list of "clean" taxonomies is the result of political compromise and that small modular reactors are still more science fiction than a real solution.

ADR MP Tom Weidig took a more pragmatic stance, stating that the party is energy neutral and favours a non-ideological approach. He accused the Greens of demonising nuclear energy and stressed that the decision on a possible waste storage facility on the Belgian border would not depend on Luxembourg.

Energy Minister Lex Delles summed up the debate by emphasising that gas and nuclear are unsustainable sources and reminded Greens opponents that they themselves were part of the previous government but never made progress on the issue.

Thus, despite the unanimous rejection of the idea of building a nuclear power plant in Luxembourg, the parliament was divided in its assessment of the government's actions and attitude to the European energy reality. The main consensus is that nuclear is not for Luxembourg, but how to react to the decisions of the EU and its neighbours is still unclear.