London (Platts)--25May2007

EC officials said May 24 nuclear debate is "unavoidable", and nuclear power is
"necessary." Speaking separately, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso and
Matthias Ruete, director of the European Commission's directorate general for
energy and transport, both endorsed discussions on nuclear power's role in the
European Union. 

EC President Barroso said he believed that EU "member states cannot avoid the
question of nuclear power. There has to be a full and frank debate about the
issue," Barroso said, according to a copy of his speech before a meeting of
the Paris-based Institut Francais de Relations Internationales, released by
the commission. 

Separately, Ruete said, "Nuclear power is necessary for European climate
targets. The answer is simply a question of cost: are we prepared to
compensate for the exit from nuclear power by paying more for generation
through more expensive renewables?" Ruete was speaking May 24 in Berlin at the
annual conference of the German power suppliers' lobby, VDEW.