¶¶Òõpro

The Netherlands is considering the expansion of nuclear power in its energy mix, according to a letter Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Eric Wiebes submitted to the Dutch parliament last week, together with a report by consultants Enco. The cabinet will now prepare a motion requesting that the country holds a market consultation to assess commercial interest in nuclear new build.

The falling costs of renewable energy, such as solar PV and wind, do not give governments an accurate picture of how to invest in low-carbon generation, Michel Berthélemy, a nuclear energy analyst at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, said last week during a webinar hosted by the Expert Group on Resource Management of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

¶¶Òõpro Director General Agneta Rising said today that the changes needed to transition to a more sustainable future will not happen without the participation of a diverse workforce, and the greater inclusion of women. Speaking to participants in a side event to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 64th General Conference, Rising said the energy sector remains one of the most gender-imbalanced, and that the nuclear sector was no exception.

The United Arab Emirates' world records in the development of solar power do not distract from an ambition to expand its use of nuclear energy to help facilitate the transition to a clean economy, UAE Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui said yesterday. In his address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial, the minister explained the progress the UAE has made with its Energy Strategy 2050.

The 2020s are likely to be a time of uncertainty for global energy systems with the growing recognition that business-as-usual is unsustainable and represents a threat to humanity, but the global transition to low-carbon energy and the post-COVID recovery will be a time of opportunity for the nuclear energy sector and its supply chain, according to the 2020 edition of a ¶¶Òõpro report that analyses the economic value of the nuclear power industry. The report is the work of the Association's Supply Chain working group, which is chaired by Laurent-Olivier Coudeyre of EDF.

The nuclear industry has merely scratched the surface of the flexible benefits of nuclear power, according to panellists in a conference held this week ahead of the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial. The CEM11 side-event, Flexibility in Clean Energy Systems: The Enabling Roles of Nuclear Energy, included high-level speakers from the International Energy Agency, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as government officials from Canada, the UK and the USA. Hosted by Saudi Arabia, CEM11 will take place on 22 September.

There are immediate actions that countries and stakeholders can take in understanding the importance of nuclear power in the transition to clean energy, according to a report published today by the Flexible Nuclear Campaign for Nuclear-Renewables Integration. FNC is a campaign of the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial, and coordinated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Prejudice towards nuclear power among some policymakers is preventing a fact-based assessment of its benefits, including the ability to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, Bohdan Zronek, chief nuclear officer at Czech utility ÄŒEZ, told participants in ¶¶Òõpro's Strategic eForum last week. ÄŒEZ was one of seven utilities that wrote to the European Commission in March, arguing that the nuclear industry ought to benefit from future sustainable financing.

The nuclear industry should work with policymakers on the design of market mechanisms that can produce a clear price signal to attract investors to this low-carbon form of electricity, Jostein Kristensen, partner with economics consultancy firm Oxera, told participants in ¶¶Òõpro's Strategic eForum last week. Markets currently do not reflect the value of nuclear power as a sustainable and reliable source of energy in the fight against climate change, he said.

Driving investment towards nuclear energy projects depends strongly on the perception and evaluation of the costs associated with them, Leonam dos Santos Guimarães, CEO of Eletronuclear, told participants in ¶¶Òõpro's Strategic eForum last week. Brazil has two nuclear reactors generating about 3% of its electricity, but construction of a third is currently stalled.

The future of nuclear power in China is promising, Zheng Mingguang, Chief Engineer at China's State Power Investment Corporation told ¶¶Òõpro's Strategic eForum 2020 yesterday. He believes both the use of large and small-scale reactors will find applications in China beyond just electricity generation.