Fuel rods, etc. – EU countries in Putin’s nuclear stranglehold

“The EU has no choice but to completely exclude nuclear energy from the recently adopted tenth package of sanctions against Russia. Because over the years, Europe has given itself more and more over the years,” Viennese climate council member Jürgen Czernohorszky, chairman of the city network Cities for Nuclear Free Europe (CNFE), sounds the alarm.

French submarines powerless without nuclear supplies
For the Army of the Grande Nation, that means an open wound and an unprotected flank. Because without the nuclear stockpiles for nuclear rod production provided by Putin’s grace, the once-proud French reactor fleet cannot be phased out – an absolute strategic nightmare in President Emmanuel Macron’s defense strategy.

But the Russian tsar also has all the cards in other areas: One of the biggest problems is the supply of fuel for the older VVER 440 reactors in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria. Since this is currently only possible through Russian companies, the no-fly zone for relevant special transports from Putin’s empire had to be lifted several times in 2022.

Reactor construction in Hungary
Austria’s neighbor Hungary is also against the sanctions imposed on Moscow’s nuclear sector, as two new reactors are currently being built at the Paks site by the Russian company Rosatom. Ten billion of the 12.5 billion euro project is financed by a loan from Moscow. Finland, on the other hand, pulled the string: the construction of a Rosatom nuclear power plant was halted because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.