Mitsotakis raises idea of using SMRs for islands, data centers

The discussion on nuclear energy plants has been raised again in Greece after many years, given the rise of small modular reactors (SMRs) and the global renaissance of nuclear energy.

“We need to be technology agnostic and examine every possible solution,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with Bloomberg, referring to nuclear energy and SMRs.

Although Greece does not have nuclear stations, the government is following what is going on around the world in terms of technological development, as it is a carbon-neutral way to produce electricity, he pointed out.

“Excluding a technology simply because there are other sides we do not like, does not seem to me the right way forward”, Mitsotakis added.

The government is focusing on SMRs, and not large nuclear plants, and the possibility of using them locally, in islands, or to supply data centers. In fact, Greek islands and other regions are expected to face a shortage of water in the years and decades to come, which means that energy-hungry desalination plants will be needed, as will more electricity to run them.

Another issue that Greece has raised in recent years is the possibility of supporting the construction of reactors in neighboring countries, such as Bulgaria, and in turn to receive contracted electricity through importing it.

Public opinion hostile to nuclear energy

While the idea of supporting nuclear projects abroad may be easy politically, the same cannot be said about SMRs in Greece. The public has always been very hostile to the technology ever since Chernobyl and it remains true today.

Apart from very few experts who advocate nuclear energy, no Greek official or company has ever seriously raised the issue until now.

After all, given the often extreme local reactions even against clean technologies like solar or wind farms, it seems inconceivable that people would be willing to accept nuclear plants anywhere in the country.