Democratising the EU Nuclear Energy Policy through Energy Justice

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the following energy
crisis have reshaped the EU’s energy strategy. Confronted with the challenge of achieving carbon neutrality while ensuring energy security, the nuclear energy narrative has prevailed in academic and policy debates.
While some EU member states consider it essential to the EU’s energy future, others advocate for its phase-out, limiting the EU’s ability to streamline its energy policy. While Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) offer flexibility and shorter deployment times, they raise concerns about waste, safety and regulatory consistency. In that vein, legal, technical, economic
and geopolitical concerns prevail, while public participation is often overlooked to the detriment of democracy and accountability. Our research examines the EU’s nuclear governance framework through the lens of energy justice. It investigates who benefits from nuclear development and
who bears its risks, whether the needs of future generations are considered in decision-making and to what extent current nuclear energy policies address structural inequalities among EU member states. Our research findings suggest rethinking a future-proof regulatory framework that integrates legal clarity, technological innovation and democratic legitimacy to ensure a just energy transition in the European Union.