FORATOM director general part of EU low-carbon-energy roundtable

Jean-Pol Poncelet, director general of the European Atomic Forum (FORATOM), took part in a roundtable debate on energy hosted by the European Union last week in Brussels.

The roundtable, "Energy Union: What Electricity Mix Can Achieve Europe's Low-Carbon Economy?" was organized by the European Commission as part of EU's Sustainable Energy Week events.

Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace U.K.'s former executive director, said nuclear energy would play an important role in the transition to low-carbon energy development and production. In the past, Tindale has opposed nuclear energy efforts, but he has since said this opposition and campaigning had little economic or environmental rationale.

"Nuclear is not perfect, but it is necessary as a transition technology to low-carbon fuels," Tindale said.
 
Poncelet's presentation included information on what forms of energy generation make up the EU's energy grid. Poncelet said 27 percent of this is from nuclear energy, which is currently matching coal-based energy generation. Poncelet also said that energy performance from nuclear generation is between 85 and 90 percent, compared with 50 percent for coal and 30 percent and 20 percent for wind and solar generation, respectively.

FORATOM is an advocacy group that acts on behalf of the nuclear energy industry across Europe and connects industry members and stakeholders with policy makers. The organization is based in Brussels and is considered a trusted source of information regarding nuclear energy, the group's website (www.foratom.org) said.