Greece has no nuclear power plants and until recently nuclear energy was not part of national energy planning. This is changing.
In March 2026, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that the government wants to examine whether small modular reactors (SMRs) can have a place in the Greek energy system. In July, a Governmental Committee for Nuclear Energy was established to examine the feasibility of the option.
The debate is legitimate. Nuclear energy generates electricity with very low carbon emissions and can provide baseload power when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining.
However, SMRs are not currently a ready-made solution that can immediately replace natural gas in Greece.
The European Commission itself aims for the first European SMRs to be operational in the early 2030s, while acknowledging that critical issues regarding financing, licensing, standardization, supply chain, and public support remain.
Even the Prime Minister has described the Greek choice as long-term, estimating that it is a project with roughly a decade-long horizon and clarifying that no decision on construction has been made.
This is of particular importance for the country’s energy policy. Greece has problems that require solutions today: RES curtailments, grid delays, inadequate storage and a high reliance on imported natural gas.
The nuclear debate, therefore, must not be used as an alibi to maintain gas as a “transition” fuel for another decade or two.
If the government genuinely wants to consider SMRs, it must publicly present costs, timelines, siting, waste management, grid requirements and alternative scenarios.
Until then, the most direct path to a lower reliance on fossil fuels remains clear: renewables, storage, grids, energy efficiency and electrification.