ABBREVIATIONS  IV

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  VII

INTRODUCTION  1

1. EU POLICY DYNAMICS ON NUCLEAR ENERGY  5

1.1. EVOLUTION OF NUCLEAR'S ROLE IN THE EU  5

1.2. FROM THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL TO THE CLEAN INDUSTRIAL DEAL  9

1.3. EU POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS – WHAT PLACE FOR NUCLEAR?  13

2. NUCLEAR ENERGY IN A LOW-CARBON ENERGY SYSTEM  17

2.1. NUCLEAR ENERGY IN A TRANSFORMING ELECTRICITY SYSTEM  18

2.2. NON-ELECTRIC VALUE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY  34

3. ECONOMICS OF NUCLEAR IN A DECARBONISING ENERGY SYSTEM  44

3.1. LEVELISED COST OF ELECTRICITY AND BEYOND  44

3.2. ECONOMICS OF NUCLEAR UNDER THE ELECTRICITY MARKET DESIGN  50

4. BUILDING NEW NUCLEAR IN EUROPE  58

4.1. NEWBUILD DELIVERY: CONSTRUCTION, SUPPLY CHAINS AND SKILLS  58

4.2. FINANCING NEW NUCLEAR  72

5. SMALL MODULAR REACTORS  83

5.1 SMR TECHNOLOGY  83

5.2 SMR DEPLOYMENT IN THE EU  86

5.3. SMR APPLICATIONS: DEMAND SIDE  94

5.4. ECONOMICS OF SMRS  100

CONCLUSIONS: THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR  103

ASSESSMENT SUMMARY  104

THE WAY FORWARD: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS  108

ANNEXES  113

ANNEX 1: NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE EU  113

ANNEX 2: OVERVIEW OF NUCLEAR REACTOR TECHNOLOGY  114

ANNEX 3: METHODOLOGY (EXTENDED)  117

REFERENCES  118