Denmark’s government is exploring the possibility of lifting its 40-year-old ban on nuclear energy, focusing specifically on new technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs), Minister of Climate and Energy Lars Aagaard announced Wednesday.
The ban was put in place in 1985, when Denmark’s Parliament removed nuclear power from the country’s energy plans—one year before the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Aagaard said the government will study the potential and risks of advanced nuclear options but will not consider traditional nuclear power plants. “We observe that new nuclear technologies are emerging—small modular reactors. The government has decided to investigate their potential,” he told Danish newspaper Politiken.
He added that potential alone is not enough. The government needs to understand the broader impact on Danish society before moving forward.
Despite the inquiry, Denmark is not abandoning its current focus on wind and solar power, which it sees as the fastest and cheapest path to a green transition. Currently, wind and solar provide about half of Denmark’s electricity, and together with bioenergy, they make up over 80% of the power mix.
Meanwhile, Italy is also reconsidering nuclear energy after decades of opposition. Earlier this year, Italy’s government approved steps to draft laws aimed at restarting nuclear power with new SMR technology. Italy stopped nuclear power following a 1987 referendum after Chernobyl and rejected it again in 2011.
Italy’s current government under Giorgia Meloni views nuclear power as part of its plan to decarbonize industry.
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