Ireland needs to get real about nuclear power

Sir, – It is strikingthat Hannah Daly’s op-ed bemoaning Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels (“Price of our dependence on fossil fuels is becoming clear yet again”, March 11th) fails to mention nuclear energy even once.

In 1990, a third of Europe’s electricity was generated by nuclear power. As European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged at the Paris Nuclear Energy Summit, the subsequent retreat from nuclear was “a strategic mistake”. Europe cannot reduce its fossil fuel dependency to the extent Daly advocates without restoring, at the very least, that level of nuclear penetration.

Further, renewable-heavy grids such as Ireland’s require more dispatchable energy sources such as gas to ensure the grid remains balanced on cloudy and calm days.

Omitting nuclear from any serious discussion of energy security leaves us an island detached from the continent of reality. – Yours, etc.