Nuclear power plays an important role in ensuring the security of electricity supplies in the EU. It combines ecological and economic attributes, i.e. reduces dependence on fossil fuels and helps to avoid huge amounts emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per annum. The biggest challenge for the EU's nuclear power industry is aging fleet of nuclear reactors. Therefore, if the EU wants to maintain the current potential of nuclear power, Member States must make significant investments in order to balance production capacities that will be lost due to closure of aging power plants. In the long term perspective to replace nuclear power with renewable energy would be counterproductive, because it would mean to maintain a large share of fossil fuels in the EU's energy balance.

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