Electricity generation from nuclear energy in existing installations

✓ Climate mitigation

General criteria pertaining to substantial contribution to climate change mitigation and Do no significant harm (‘DNSH’)1. The project related to the economic activity (‘the project’) is located in a Member State which complies with all of the following:the Member State has fully transposed Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom and Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom;the Member State complies with the Euratom Treaty and with legislation adopted on its basis, in particular, Directive 2009/71/Euratom, Directive 2011/70/Euratom and Directive 2013/59/Euratom, and with applicable Union environmental law adopted under Article 192 TFEU, in particular Directive 2011/92/EU and Directive 2000/60/EC; the Member State has in place, as of the approval date of the project, a radioactive waste management fund and a nuclear decommissioning fund which can be combined; the Member State has demonstrated that it will have resources available at the end of the estimated useful life of the nuclear power plant corresponding to the estimated cost of radioactive waste management and decommissioning in compliance with Recommendation 2006/851/Euratom;the Member State has operational final disposal facilities for all very low-, low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, notified to the Commission under Article 41 of the Euratom Treaty or under Article 1(4) of Council Regulation 2587/1999 and included in the national programme updated under Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom;for projects authorised after 2025, the Member State has a documented plan with detailed steps to have in operation, by 2050, a disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste describing all of the following:For the purposes of point (f), Member States may use the plans drawn up as part of the national programme required by Articles 11 and 12 of Directive 2011/70/Euratom.2. The upgraded project implements any reasonably practicable safety improvement and from 2025 makes use of accident-tolerant fuel. The technology is certified and approved by the national safety regulator.3. The project has been notified to the Commission in accordance with Article 41 of the Euratom Treaty or with Article 1(4) of Council Regulation 2587/1999, where either of these provisions is applicable, the Commission has given its opinion on it in accordance with Article 43 of the Euratom Treaty, and all the issues raised in the opinion, with relevance for the application of Article 10(2) and Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, and of the technical screening criteria laid down in this Section, have been satisfactorily addressed.4. The Member State concerned has committed to report to the Commission every five years for each project on all of the following:the adequacy of the accumulated resources referred to in point 1(c);actual progress in the implementation of the plan referred to in point 1(f).On the basis of the reports, the Commission shall review the adequacy of the accumulated resources of the radioactive waste management fund and the nuclear decommissioning fund referred to in point 1(c) and the progress in the implementation of the documented plan referred to in point 1(f) and it may address an opinion to the Member State concerned.5. The activity complies with national legislation that transposes the legislation referred to in point 1 (a) and (b), including as regards the evaluation, in particular through stress-tests, of the resilience of the Union nuclear power plants against extreme natural hazards, including earthquakes. Accordingly, the activity takes place on the territory of a Member State where the operator of a nuclear installation:has submitted a demonstration of nuclear safety, whose scope and level of detail is commensurate with the potential magnitude and nature of the hazard relevant for the nuclear installation and its site (Article 6, point (b), of Directive 2009/71/Euratom);has taken defence-in-depth measures to ensure, inter alia, that the impact of extreme external natural and unintended man-made hazards is minimised (Article 8b(1), point (a), of Directive 2009/71/Euratom);has performed an appropriate site and installation-specific assessment when the operator concerned applies for a licence to construct or operate a nuclear power plant (Article 8c(a) of Directive 2009/71/Euratom).6. The activity fulfils the requirements of Directive 2009/71/Euratom, supported by the latest international guidance from the IAEA and WENRA, contributing to increasing the resilience and the ability of new and existing nuclear power plants to cope with extreme natural hazards, including floods and extreme weather conditions.7. Radioactive waste referred to in point 1 (e) and (f) is disposed of in the Member State in which it was generated, unless there is an agreement between the Member State concerned and the Member State of destination, as established in Directive 2011/70/Euratom. In that case, the Member State of destination has radioactive waste management and disposal programmes and a suitable disposal facility in operation in compliance with the requirements of Directive 2011/70/Euratom.Additional criteria pertaining to substantial contribution to climate change mitigationThe activity generates electricity using nuclear energy. Life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the generation of electricity from nuclear energy are below the threshold of 100 g CO2e/kWh.Life-cycle GHG emission savings are calculated using Recommendation 2013/179/EU or, alternatively, using ISO 14067:2018 or ISO 14064-1:2018.Quantified life-cycle GHG emissions are verified by an independent third party.

✓ Climate adaptation

1. The economic activity has implemented physical and non-physical solutions (‘adaptation solutions’) that substantially reduce the most important physical climate risks that are material to that activity.2. The physical climate risks that are material to the activity have been identified from those listed in Appendix A of the applicable Delegated Act by performing a robust climate risk and vulnerability assessment with the following steps:(a) screening of the activity to identify which physical climate risks from the list in Appendix A of the applicable Delegated Act may affect the performance of the economic activity during its expected lifetime;(b) where the activity is assessed to be at risk from one or more of the physical climate risks listed in Appendix A of the applicable Delegated Act, a climate risk and vulnerability assessment to assess the materiality of the physical climate risks on the economic activity;(c) an assessment of adaptation solutions that can reduce the identified physical climate risk.The climate risk and vulnerability assessment is proportionate to the scale of the activity and its expected lifespan, such that:(a) for activities with an expected lifespan of less than 10 years, the assessment is performed, at least by using climate projections at the smallest appropriate scale;(b) for all other activities, the assessment is performed using the highest available resolution, state-of-the-art climate projections across the existing range of future scenarios(387) consistent with the expected lifetime of the activity, including, at least, 10 to 30 year climate projections scenarios for major investments.3. The climate projections and assessment of impacts are based on best practice and available guidance and take into account the state-of-the-art science for vulnerability and risk analysis and related methodologies in line with the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports(388) , scientific peer-reviewed publications and open source(389) or paying models.4. The adaptation solutions implemented:(a) do not adversely affect the adaptation efforts or the level of resilience to physical climate risks of other people, of nature, of cultural heritage, of assets and of other economic activities;(b) favour nature-based solutions(390) or rely on blue or green infrastructure(391) to the extent possible;(c) are consistent with local, sectoral, regional or national adaptation plans and strategies;(d) are monitored and measured against pre-defined indicators and remedial action is considered where those indicators are not met;(e) where the solution implemented is physical and consists in an activity for which technical screening criteria have been specified in this Annex, the solution complies with the do no significant harm technical screening criteria for that activity.5. The activity complies with the provisions laid down in the Euratom Treaty and the legislation adopted on its basis, in particular, Directive 2013/59/Euratom, Directive 2009/71/Euratom, and Directive 2011/70/Euratom as well as applicable Union environmental law adopted under Article 192 TFEU, in particular Directive 2011/92/EU and Directive 2000/60/EC.6. The activity complies with national legislation that transposes Directive 2009/71/Euratom, including as regards the evaluation, through stress-tests, of the resilience of the Union nuclear power plants against extreme natural hazards, including earthquakes. Accordingly, the activity takes place on the territory of a Member State where the operator of a nuclear installation:(a) has submitted a demonstration of nuclear safety, whose scope and level of detail is commensurate with the potential magnitude and nature of the hazard relevant for the nuclear installation and its site (Article 6, point (b), of Directive 2009/71/Euratom);(b) has taken defence-in-depth measures to ensure, inter alia, that the impact of extreme external natural and unintended man-made hazards is minimised (Article 8b(1), point (a), of Directive 2009/71/Euratom);(c) has performed an appropriate site and installation-specific assessment when the operator concerned applies for a licence to construct or operate a nuclear power plant (Article 8c(a) of Directive 2009/71/Euratom).The activity fulfils the requirements of Directive 2009/71/Euratom, supported by the latest international guidance through the IAEA and WENRA, contributing to increasing the resilience and the ability of new and existing nuclear power plants to cope with extreme natural hazards, including floods and extreme weather conditions.