Opposition party CDA and coalition party VVD are calling on the cabinet to speed up the construction of more nuclear power stations through a new “nuclear industry policy” to be outlined on Monday.

As part of this, small modular reactors, which provide industry clusters with CO2-free energy to help achieve climate goals, would have to be up and running by 2035, CDA leader Henri Bontenbal and VVD MP Silvio Erkens said.

A majority of MPs are in favour of doubling the number of existing nuclear power plants in the Netherlands to four but “the new cabinet is not exactly falling over itself to do something about it,” Bontenbal told the Telegraaf, citing “cumbersome procedures”.

“In Zeeland frustration is running high because the cabinet can’t make up its mind. I really expect more ambition, including in the area of SMRs. Our plan is meant to bring that home to the cabinet,” he said.

The two MPs point to the European Commission which has pledged to have the first SMRs operational by 2030.

At the current rate of progress, they argue, it will 2040 at least before the Netherlands has a single one.

The VVD and CDA want the Netherlands to have at least one SMR up and ready before 2035 so the Netherlands can “join the European lead group”. More money should go into research and innovation, they said.

Chemical giant Dow, with factories in Terneuzen, Dordrecht and Delfzijl, has already said it would be interested in entering a public-private partnership, the company told the paper.

In March some 40 international environmental groups protested in Brussels  about the construction of more nuclear reactors, saying it is an “illusion” to think that nuclear energy, with its risk of serious environmental damage, is the way to solving the climate crisis.