Europe’s energy industry is still heavily dependent on the Russian nuclear sector. This is noted in the material of the New York Times.
As stated in the article, it was easier for the European Union to find something to replace Russian oil and gas, because of the restrictions imposed, than to give up the “dependency” on Rosatom. As a result, Russia is still very important to Europe’s energy supply, and few people in the region support proposals to impose sanctions on Rosatom. It is emphasized that the dependency is even deeper for countries with nuclear reactors built with the Russian Federation.
According to the authors of the publication, the abandonment of the Russian nuclear industry worldwide would be a powerful blow, as the nuclear supply chain is extremely complex and installing a new one would take years and would be costly.
Formerly Polska Agencja Prasowa (РАР) reportedFrance, Hungary and Bulgaria are blocking sanctions on Russia’s nuclear energy, including Rosatom. A source from the European Union told the publication that France is the biggest supporter of cooperation with Rosatom in the field of nuclear energy and that Hungary has become the country that has made the most noise on this issue, “As soon as we express national security, there are possible sanctions.”