Nuclear power in Ireland
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Single Electricity Market encompassing the entire island of Ireland does not, and has never, produced any electricity from nuclear power stations. The production of electricity for the Irish national grid (Eirgrid), by nuclear fission, is prohibited in the Republic of Ireland by the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 (Section 18). The enforcement of this law is only possible within the borders of Ireland, and it does not prohibit consumption. Since 2001 in Northern Ireland and 2012 in the Republic, the grid has become increasingly interconnected with the neighbouring electric grid of Britain, and therefore Ireland is now partly powered by overseas nuclear fission stations.
Ireland did, however, host a small student training reactor at University College Cork; the dismantled reactor's uranium remained in secure storage on campus in the 2000s, and in 2003 The Irish Times reported that it had generated no power and was not a commercial reactor.
A ‘Eurobarometer’ survey in 2007 indicated that 27 percent of the citizens of Ireland were in favour of an “increased use” of nuclear energy. More recent polling suggested a more divided picture. In 2021, an Ireland Thinks poll for The Good Information Project found respondents evenly split on whether Ireland should build a nuclear power station, with 43% in favour and 43% opposed. In 2026, The Irish Times reported that a Red C survey for KPMG found that one in three Irish adults backed the construction of nuclear power plants in Ireland, while opposition remained higher at about 45%.
Debate over nuclear power in Ireland revived in the 2020s, with the Workers' Party adopting a pro-nuclear policy in 2023 and both former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressing greater openness to nuclear power in 2026.
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