Chain reaction Is nuclear power back in fashion?

Spain’s recent blackout and AI datacentres’ massive energy needs are leading politicians to reach for the restart button

- By Jillian Ambrose

When millions of people across the Iberian peninsula were left without power in April, the political fallout ignited debate over Europe’s renewable energy agenda, and fuelled the rising interest in nuclear power.

Europe’s largest power blackout in decades, still largely unexplained, has raised questions about whether renewable energy can be relied on to provide a stable source of clean energy. It has also fuelled a renewed interest in the global nuclear power renaissance.

Despite long-held environmental concerns about nuclear power generation, political leaders are looking to lift restrictions on nuclear reactors or invest billions in new projects to keep pace with the fast-rising demand for low-carbon energy, which is expected to accelerate as AI datacentres grow.

In Spain, the blackout has intensified an ongoing debate over the government’s plans to phase out its remaining seven nuclear reactors by 2035. Support for the low-carbon energy source has re-emerged hand-in-hand with criticism of renewable energy, and its potential role in the outage.

Spain’s power grid relied on renewable energy for about 70% of its power at the time of the blackout, which experts believe may have made it more difficult for the energy system operator to keep the grid’s frequency stable.

The suggestion was vehemently denied by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. Just hours after the blackout, he said: “There was no problem caused by an excess of renewable energy. Those who link this incident to the lack of nuclear energy are either lying or revealing their ignorance.”