Denmark rethinking 40-year nuclear power ban amid Europe-wide shift

[hunter]

Denmark is reconsidering its 40-year ban on nuclear power in a major policy shift for the renewables-heavy country.

The Danish government will analyse the potential benefits of a new generation of nuclear power technologies after banning traditional nuclear reactors in 1985, its energy minister said.

The Scandinavian country is one of Europe’s most renewables-rich energy markets and home to Ørsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind company. More than 80% of its electricity is generated from renewables, including wind, biofuels and solar, according to the International Energy Agency.

But Denmark may begin investing in modular nuclear reactors too, Lars Aagaard, the energy and climate minister, suggested.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/14/denmark-rethinking-40-year-nuclear-power-ban-amid-europe-wide-shift

Nuclear power is the only way Denmark will quit their fossil fuel habit.

Denmark's carbon intensity here:

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DK-DK1/12mo/monthly (West)

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DK-DK2/12mo/monthly (East)

Denmark burns coal and gas whenever the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining.

I don't think generation IV modular nuclear plants are any kind of panacea, since they are not being mass produced yet and it's unclear when they might be.

Denmark could start building generation III+ nuclear power plants today.

[progree]

1. On the electricity map, I clicked on "yearly" in the left column, as hourly carbon intensity varies tremendously

from hour to hour e.g. only base-load stuff is running at 3 am, while peakers are running at 3 pm, relatively speaking. Ditto for monthly where the season matters a lot as far as what's running. So yearly is the best way to get an overall average that is not misleadingly biased by the time of day or time of year chosen (unless one really is interested in a particular hour or month). Below is the yearly for 2024:

Denmark: 136g CO2eq / KWH
France: 31g CO2eq / KWH

Germany: 367g CO2eq / KWH

[NNadir]

2. These numbers, which I often reference, demonstrate conclusively what forms of energy...

...are effective at addressing extreme global heating. The ironic or depressing thing is that amount of resources directed at supporting so called "renewable energy" is roughly ten times larger that the amount spent on supporting and developing nuclear energy.

Years ago, before the reactionary "renewable energy" experiment was undertaken antinukes used to tell me that if the same amount of money was spent on wind and solar as was being spent on nuclear, energy nirvana would break out.

Here we are, decades later, trillions upon trillions of dollars sunk into solar and wind. The result is a planet in flames. I wouldn't call this nirvana. These remarks should not be taken a schadenfreude. We all cook together.