[temp-dude-87844]

The situation is complicated. Some EU member states are pro-nuclear, and some are anti-nuclear. In each state, the predominant popular sentiment may not actually match the current government's policy, but it usually does.

France is the most significant player in the pro-nuclear bloc, operating a huge number of nuclear power plants and exporting its technology. France is joined by less populous countries in the eastern half of the EU that operate nuclear power plants to great benefit (Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Finland), supplying large proportions of their states' electricity needs [1] from a small number of facilities, and makes them less reliant on import of natural gas from Russia. And, it's joined by bigger countries in the eastern half that want to diversify their generation mix away from coal and not towards Russian-sourced natural gas (Romania, Poland).

Opposing nuclear power is Austria, who is a fierce opponent of nuclear power on principle, but has generous hydro capacity to not have to worry about it, and also operates the biggest natural gas interconnection point in the eastern EU [2]. Austria is joined by Luxembourg: anti-nuclear sentiment is very high, it has one the lowest share of renewables in Europe, and probably imports [3] most of its electricity from the coal plants outside Cologne in Germany. They're joined by Germany, where the anti-nuclear Greens party are in the governing coalition, anti-nuclear sentiment is high, plentiful coal exists, natural gas is imported from Russia, Norway, and the Netherlands, and wind and solar have been rising rapidly. They convinced wind-dominated Denmark to support them, along with Portugal, which gets most of its energy from Algerian or Nigerian natural gas, but has significant hydro and wind generation as well.

The common link between anti-nuclear countries is that they're well ahead on wind and/or hydro vs. your typical pro-nuclear country, and they have fewer geopolitical concerns about natural gas imports to tide them over until alternative generation replaces most gas. The common link between pro-nuclear countries is that they like the benefits nuclear brings to them, and some of them want more of that.

[1] http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-pro... [2] https://www.gasconnect.at/en/network-information/at-a-glance... [3] https://www.klyme.online/post/where-does-luxembourg-s-electr...