World Nuclear News – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Steady Energy is developing the LDR-50 small modular reactor with the initial goal of decarbonising district heating systems. The CEO of the Finnish company, Tommi Nyman, explains why the decision to focus on heat rather than electricity was taken.

The company was spun out of VTT, Finland's national research lab, and was prompted by its researchers noting that 10% of CO2 emissions come from heating water or steam to 150C and thinking "why not build something simple that would only cover low temperature heat markets". "In the context of the climate crisis, nuclear is a very good option, but the problem has been getting projects economically sound so that nuclear can be utilised without large subsidies. We know that the most economical way to use nuclear is just to generate thermal energy without using the heat to create electricity," he tells host Alex Hunt.

Nyman added that simplicity has been key to their design, "by only producing heat you can reduce the amount of equipment in a nuclear power plant by 50%". The cost of energy they are aiming at is below EUR40 per MWh, depending on how the utility wants to operate it and the aim is to have a first plant delivered in 2030.

Also in this episode World Nuclear News's Claire Maden reports on events in India, South Africa and uranium developments in the USA and Australia.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
Finnish municipal decision-makers favourable to SMRs
India's NTPC confirms plans for nuclear subsidiary
South Africa pauses nuclear procurement process

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

Southern Nuclear's Senior Vice President for Vogtle 3 and 4, John Williams, discusses the achievement and "tremendous pride" from everyone involved in completing the first new nuclear units built in the USA for more than 30 years.

He says that both AP1000s have been performing well, with Vogtle 3 operating at 98% capacity since being put into service a year ago. And, as well as the direct jobs - 9000 workers were on site at peak construction - he says that people can see the benefits of carbon-free energy being produced and understand how important it is for the future of energy in the US and further afield.

The project had many well-documented challenges to overcome - the impact of Fukushima, Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 and the global pandemic - and Williams says there have been many lessons learned which Southern Company is committed to sharing with utilities in the US and other countries as they embark on their own projects.  The first lesson, he says, is the need for resilience, which has been demonstrated by the project partners Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities.

In the World Nuclear News round-up Claire Maden reports on the passing of the ADVANCE Act in the US, Kazakhstan's plans for a referendum later this year on new nuclear, and the latest uranium-mining developments in Niger.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
Commercial operation marks completion of Vogtle expansion
Kazakhstan's nuclear energy referendum to be held this year
Niger revokes mining permit for Imouraren project
Southern Nuclear: Plant Vogtle

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

With the projected growth of nuclear projects over the coming decades, how will the supply chain in different parts of the world cope? EDF's Laurent-Olivier Coudeyre is chairman of World Nuclear Association's Supply Chain and Long-Term Operation Working Group, he joins us to outline how the supply chain works, the focus on quality, localisation and how it can develop in the future. We also hear from Nathan Paterson, the staff director of the association's working group, about some of the key themes from the recently published World Nuclear Supply Chain Report.

Also in this edition, Claire Maden joins host Alex Hunt to report on developments in Canada where Bruce Power is getting the ball rolling for a potential Bruce C plant and Alberta is looking into the possible use of small modular reactors in its oil sands industry.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
Supply Chain and Long-Term Operation Working Group
Supply chain must expand to meet new build plans, report warns

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production

World Nuclear Symposium, held in London, brought together key figures from across the global industry, who took part in a variety of panel discussions on many of the current big issues in the sector. In this special edition of the podcast, World Nuclear News reports on those sessions:

The topics covered, in order:

• The launch of the Net Zero Nuclear campaign
• Publication of World Nuclear Association's Nuclear Fuel Report
• Recruitment and expanding the nuclear workforce
• How nuclear can decarbonise different industries
• Optimising plant life performance
• Investing in and financing of nuclear

We hear from, in order of appearance:

• Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of World Nuclear Association
• Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency
• Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation
• Kaajal Desai, Senior Programme Lead for Fuel Cycle, World Nuclear Association
• Malcolm Critchley, President and CEO ConverDyn
• Chris Frankland, Director of Sales and Marketing, Nuclear Fuels Corporation
• Jeanne Tortorelli, Director of Nuclear Fuel Supply at Constellation Energy Generation
• Tamer Albishawi, Chief Nuclear Officer at Hinkley Point C
• Callum Thomas, Chairman of Thomas Thor
• Grace Stanke, Nuclear Engineering Student, Nuclear Advocate and Miss America
• Charlotte Griffiths, Sustainable Energy Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe
• Todd Noe, Director of Nuclear Technologies Strategy at Microsoft
• Mikal Bøe, Chairman and CEO Core Power
• Naoki Chigusa, CEO of World Association of Nuclear Operators
• Vinod Kumar, Station Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited's Kaiga 3 and 4
• Catherine Cornand, Senior Executive Vice President Framatome
• Chris Cunningham, Vice President Nuclear Projects at Ontario Power Generation
• Wolfgang Denk, Managing Director, Swissnuclear
• Keisuke Sadamori, Director Energy Markets and Security, International Energy Agency
• Iain Smedley, Global Chairman of Banking, Barclays
• Kevin Kelly, CFO Bruce Power
• Julien Bocobza, Partner, White & Case LLC
• Sophie Macfarlane-Smith, Head of Customer Engagement Rolls-Royce SMR
• Thomas Branche, Senior Vice President for Engineering, Assystem
• Rumina Velshi, President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
• Erick van Egeraat, Architect
• Tim Gitzel, President and CEO Cameco

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear Symposium 2023
Nuclear Fuel Report 2023
Nuclear industry urged 'take advantage of window of opportunity'
Net Zero Nuclear campaign launched, seeking to triple capacity by 2050
The challenge of recruiting a rapidly growing nuclear workforce
Positive trends continue for global nuclear fuel cycle
Successful nuclear projects key for future investments

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[email protected]

Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Reports from Claire Maden and Warwick Pipe. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production.

It was in 2003 that World Nuclear University was founded by World Nuclear Association, the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Association of Nuclear Operators and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency,  with a mission to provide comprehensive leadership, communications and technical training to support the next generation of nuclear leaders.

As it marks its 20th birthday, host Alex Hunt is joined by World Nuclear University (WNU)  director Isis Leslie to learn more about its work and also its exciting plans for the future. We also hear first-hand what the WNU experience is like from Estiner Katengeza, one of the fellows at this year's Summer Institute, which was held in Japan.

In the World Nuclear News round-up Claire Maden reports on developments in Niger and considers the impact on the uranium sector, Warwick Pipe reports on the start of the discharge of treated water from Fukushima and there is also a report on the good news out of the USA from Vogtle.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
World Nuclear University
WNU Alumni on Linkedin

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

The annual World Nuclear Performance Report has all the statistics and numbers anyone interested in the nuclear energy sector could possibly want. It breaks down the performance of reactors across the world by type, by age and by country. The author behind it is World Nuclear Association's Jonathan Cobb, who joins us to discuss this year's findings.

As well as explaining the reason why some parts of the world saw a small decline in nuclear energy output in 2022, he has a bundle of fascinating stats - including those which suggest the oldest reactors, ie over 50 years old,  are more than matching the performance of the newer and younger ones.

In the July World Nuclear News round-up Claire Maden covers a bundle of good news stories from Canada, Warwick Pipe reports on developments in France and Poland, while host Alex Hunt hears from UK Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Grant Shapps as he launched Great British Nuclear, the arms-length organisation intended to help the country hit its target of 24 GW of nuclear by 2050.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
World Nuclear Performance Report 2023
Great British Nuclear

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

What is the current position with nuclear energy in the continent of Africa and what are the prospects for the future? Lassina Zerbo is the former head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization and current chairman of the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board - he joins us to discuss the situation at the moment and look ahead to the future.

He talks about the history and considers why there is only one country in the continent with an operating nuclear power plant, and how changes in public opinion and nuclear technology are helping to drive a wide range of planned developments. Director of World Nuclear Association's Harmony programme, King Lee, also outlines some of the many initiatives taking place which could transform the nuclear energy picture in Africa in the years to come.

June has been another busy month for World Nuclear News and Warwick Pipe reports on developments with China's molten salt reactor, while Claire Maden sets out the USA's efforts to tackle the issue of HALEU fuel supplies for the next generation of nuclear reactors.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries
Nuclear 'gaining traction' as option in many African countries, says IAEA
Viewpoint: Nuclear energy is critical to Africa's agenda for sustainable development

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

The World Nuclear Fuel Cycle international forum is co-organised by the Nuclear Energy Institute and World Nuclear Association. As the name suggests, this conference is very much focused on the commercial nuclear fuel cycle and the economic competitiveness of nuclear energy, so as you'd expect, the programme is firmly based around the issues that are of significance in the fuel marketplace - and that's certainly a complex and challenging place right now.

Claire Maden has put together a special report on this year's gathering, which took place in April in the Netherlands.

There has been a dramatic fall in the price of electricity in Finland over the past six months. Can that be linked to Olkiluoto 3's recent move into commercial operation? World Nuclear Association's Alec Mitchell crunches the numbers and explains the price fluctuation.

The past month has also seen the unveiling of Westinghouse's proposed AP300 small modular reactor. Warwick Pipe reports on the launch and the back-story to the latest SMR contender.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2023
Nuclear Power in Finland
Westinghouse's AP300

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

The French nuclear giant EDF and its partners have been working on their Nuward small nuclear reactor and have now spun the operation into a subsidiary company.  Renaud Crassous, president of Nuward joins us to discuss its plans and timelines, and explains why the decision to set up a subsidiary company was taken.

During a wide-ranging interview Crassous talks about the pioneering early design regulatory review being jointly carried out by regulators in three countries, and explains why the aim is for Nuward to be 'Europe's SMR' rather than just a French one.

April has been a busy month for World Nuclear News's Warwick Pipe and Claire Maden who join host Alex Hunt to report on Germany exiting the nuclear energy scene as its last three nuclear reactors were shut down in the middle of the month. Plus, on a brighter note, they also explain the significance just a few days later of a ceremony held to inaugurate the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, as Turkey officially joined the league of nations with nuclear energy capacity. And there's time too for some positive news from Finland and its Olkiluoto 3 EPR.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
Nuward
A guide: The end of Germany’s nuclear power
Presidents address ceremony inaugurating Turkey's first nuclear plant
TVO accepts Olkiluoto EPR ahead of commercial operation

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Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production 

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency released a report in March which it described as the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. Claire Maden reports on the report's key findings (that there's still a long way to go to boost female representation in the sector) and also on what NEA Director General William D Magwood IV and Fiona Rayment, chair of the NEA's Gender Balance Task Group had to say about the situation.

The need to encourage more women into the nuclear sector is an issue returned to in an interview with Corhyn Parr, CEO of Nuclear Waste Services, who says her own experience has shown it is a great career choice. She also tells host Alex Hunt that with the expansion of nuclear in the coming years and the need to hit net zero targets, the sector needs to be able to attract and welcome the most talented people from across society.

Parr also discusses progress made on the UK's plans for a Geological Disposal Facility. The aim is to narrow the current shortlisted areas down to two options by 2026, with the longer-term timescale looking at an operating start in 2050.

The European Union's member states have been split over the position of nuclear energy within its sustainability framework and green taxonomy. Those differences are continuing with the EU's Net Zero Industry Act - Andrei Goicea, policy director for Nucleareurope, explains what the act is, what place nuclear has in it at the moment, and what happens next. 

In the news round-up World Nuclear News's Warwick Pipe reports on the contrasting nuclear energy developments taking place in Taiwan and South Korea.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
NEA: Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector
Nucleareurope
Nuclear Waste Services

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Contact info:
[email protected]

Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production