WNE2021 SHOW PREVIEW |
Let’s talk about the nuclear opportunity
WNE2021 will see the nuclear industry meeting in a new world, with new opportunities post COP26. Are we about to see a change in the conversation around nuclear?
A LONGSTANDING PROVIDER OF low-carbon power; a key player in meeting growing low-carbon electricity needs; a major industry and an export opportunity; and an enabler of new energy vectors. Those were among the descriptions of nuclear that emerged over recent months as the industry geared up for a welcome meeting ‘in real life’ at WNE 2021 in Paris.
The meeting’s timing immediately after the Conference of
the Parties (COP26) gives industry members an opportunity to discuss how nuclear can help meet global commitments and take action in response to climate change and this will be a key theme of the conference. As the COP26 climate conference opened, the UK’s
Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) was there with a reminder of what nuclear could deliver. It highlighted a “significant milestone” for the host country’s nuclear fleet, which had clocked up 2000TWh of clean power generation. Over its 45 year history nuclear had saved the UK more
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The power landscape is changing, as fossil gives way to low-carbon
than 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, the group said. It also highlighted nuclear’s highly efficient use of land, saying that the UK’s seven operational nuclear power stations have a combined land footprint of less than 1 square mile. Nuclear feared it would be under-valued at COP, as discussions continue over where it will stand in
‘green taxonomies’ of sustainable electricity. That question remains moot, but the conference did perhaps shift the discussions as, for example, when major climate scientists such as James Hansen, Ken Caldeira, and Kerry Emanuel joined others to lend their weight to Generation Atomic’s campaign to persuade the Sierra Club to end its opposition to nuclear power. In an open letter, Generation Atomic said “universal opposition to nuclear power is no longer tenable in the 21st century, given the staggeringly difficult challenge of rapid and permanent decarbonization.” In WNE2021’s host country, France, President Emmanuel
Macron has now set his face against proposals that have gained ground in recent years to scale back its use of nuclear. Instead, in a major speech looking forward to France 2030, he highlighted nuclear’s role as a key electricity supplier, promising a decision on up to six new units in coming weeks. He said ‘reinventing nuclear power’ was the first objective in the plan, with investment of a billion euros to demonstrate small nuclear reactors. He said this programme would be “starting very quickly with very clear first projects,” Equally for France, nuclear’s industrial and export potential
was central to its investment, with Macron suggesting that French-supplied EPRs could form the backbone of an invigorated Polish power sector beyond coal. France is far
12 | WNE Special Edition |
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