Watch: Malta Is Keeping Door Open To Nuclear And Fusion Energy, Miriam Dalli Confirms
Malta is following international developments in the fields of nuclear and fusion energy but hasn’t decided whether to move in that direction yet, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli confirmed.
“There have been several developments in this field and I read about steps that are being taken in this direction as recently as this morning,” Dalli said in a new interview with Lovin Malta.
“At this stage, we shouldn’t close our doors to technology so long as it is safe and secure and can help us reach our clean energy targets and keep energy prices stable.”
“Technology is still at the stage where we must follow developments. At the end of the day, when assessing the viability of projects, one must assess whether they can be commercialised and give us the energy we want.”
In September, former Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo proposed that Malta follow in the footsteps of the UK and France and build an offshore nuclear power station to improve its energy independence.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has quickly taught us that no matter how big a country is, it cannot truly be independent and sovereign if it depends on another country for its energy,” he said.
“The EU has now cut its dependency on Russia and is becoming dependent on other gas and oil producing nations.”
“Let’s remind ourselves that even in the case of renewable energy, we will be dependent on countries that control the rare resources necessary for their production. To gain a degree of energy independence, the EU should invest more in nuclear energy.”
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat adopted a cautious stance on the proposal, but admitted his opinion on nuclear was likely to have been shaped by the 1986 Chernobyl tragedy.
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While fusion energy, often touted as a holy grail of clean energy, is still in its early stages there have been significant developments in recent weeks.
This week, the world’s first magnetised fusion power plant won development approval for Oxfordshire in the UK.
Cover photo: Left: A render of the magnetised fusion power station that has been approved for Oxfordshire, Right: An image of a potential floating offshore nuclear plant: Jake Jurewicz/MIT-NSE on the website of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
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