Will the Green parties have to take the nuclear option? 

Greater political responsibility may force Green politicians to reconcile their climate goals with the imperative of security

The statistics suggest that nuclear power is one of the safest energy sources, responsible for just 0.07 deaths per terawatt hour generated, compared to 24.6 for coal and four for natural gas. 

Ever since the 1970s, European Green parties have argued passionately for cutting carbon emissions in the continent’s energy industry, while at the same time reflexively shunning the world’s only reliable source of zero-carbon electricity: nuclear power.

Russia’s Ukrainian invasion is punching big holes in the logic of this position; that is especially true in Germany and Belgium, countries where the Greens sit in coalition governments committed to the phase-out of all nuclear power.