July 6, 2020

NEA issues call to action in report on nuclear cost reductions

A new report from the Paris-based OECD Nuclear Energy Agency declares that nuclear power is needed for countries to meet their Paris Agreement decarbonization and energy security policy goals, but that governmental support for a rapid reduction in the cost of new nuclear capacity through the creation of certain policy frameworks is likely necessary.

The NEA's 134-page report, Unlocking Reductions in the Construction Costs of Nuclear: A Practical Guide for Stakeholders, notes that according to the International Energy Agency’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), new nuclear capacity will be needed in addition to ambitious lifetime extension programs for existing nuclear plants. According to the report, in 2019, nuclear power was not on track to reach the required output. In fact, the rate of annual capacity additions would need to at least double between 2020 and 2050 to meet the SDS target.

Read more about the NEA's report in this article posted by the ANS entitled: "NEA Issues Call to Action in Report on Nuclear Cost Reductions."

October 29, 2019

All Pathways to 1.5°C Limit Include Nuclear


Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), delivered an address on the opening day of the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power,  held in Vienna in the second week of October. 2019.  He will review the findings of the report released a year ago by the IPCC, which featured four model pathways for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold at which most experts believe the worst impacts from climate change can still be avoided. All four model pathways included increases in nuclear power generation by 2050, ranging between 59% and 501%.

To support the low-carbon energy transformation needed to achieve climate change goals, the conference focused on opportunities and challenges for nuclear power development. To this end, organizers brought together representatives of low-carbon energy sectors, international organizations and national experts.

IAEA Acting Director General Cornel Feruta opened the conference. Other prominent speakers included Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; William D. Magwood, IV, Director-General of the NEA ; Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency; LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization; and senior officials and scientists from 75 countries including Argentina, China, Egypt, France, India, Mongolia, Morocco, the Russian Federation and the United States of America.

“Nuclear power has long made a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and currently produces one-third of the world’s low carbon electricity while also supporting sustainable development and fulfilling growing energy demands,” said IAEA Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov, Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy. “We are honoured that Dr. Hoesung Lee, one of the world’s leading scientific voices on climate change, is bringing his expertise to this first-of-a-kind conference.”

Read more at the International Atomic Energy Agency, "IPCC Head to Speak at International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power," by Jeffrey Donovan, August 29, 2019.

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