A group of senior Dutch business figures and former ministers has called on the government to consider nuclear energy as part of “an optimal energy mix” for the Netherlands and has called for “a coalition of the willing” to be established that can push for nuclear across Europe.

The Nuclear Energy? Initiative Group (IGK) said in a position statement that the Dutch government should begin discussions on the benefits of new nuclear and begin to explore areas of the Netherlands where new reactors could be built. It called for a market consultation to investigate the best conditions for investment in nuclear in the Netherlands.

The group’s appeal follows a resolution passed in the Dutch parliament asking the government to begin a consultation on the conditions for creating a business-case for new nuclear. The government’s largest coalition party, the right-of-centre VVD, also called in recent weeks to extend the lifetime of Borssele and to subsidise nuclear energy as part of the government’s low-carbon incentive scheme. The International Energy Agency has also suggested that Borssele should be given an extension.