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Press release by World Nuclear Association Without action to provide more support for nuclear power, global efforts to transition to a cleaner energy system will become drastically harder and more costly, according to a report[1] published today by the International Energy Agency. The report, “Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System” concludes that a failure to invest in existing and new nuclear plants in advanced economies would have implications for emissions, costs and energy security. According to the IEA report, taking nuclear out of the equation results in higher electricity prices for consumers. To offset having less nuclear and instead providing more renewables would be costlier. Markets and regulatory systems today often penalise nuclear power by not taking into account its value as a clean energy source and its contribution to energy security. The IEA report says that strong policy support is needed to secure investment in existing and new nuclear plants. The focus should be on designing electricity markets in a way that values the clean energy and energy security attributes of low-carbon technologies, including nuclear power. The report recommends that markets should value dispatchability. They should properly compensate nuclear power plants that provide the system services needed to maintain electricity security, including capacity availability and frequency control services.The IEA also says that licensing processes should support new construction by not leading to project delays and cost increases that are not justified by safety requirements. Agneta Rising, Director General, World Nuclear Association said, “More and more governments and institutions realise the benefits of nuclear energy and include it in their plans for a sustainable and clean energy future. Nuclear energy is growing strongly in countries such as China and Russia, and several countries are developing new build programmes, such as Turkey, the UAE, Bangladesh, Egypt and Belarus. “But much more will be needed to achieve the target of supplying at least 25% of global electricity demand with nuclear energy by 2050 as required by the nuclear industry’s Harmony goal or even the near six-fold increase required by the IPCC ‘middle of the road’ scenario[2]. We welcome the IEA report’s recommendation for more government interventions to secure investment in new nuclear plants.” [1] Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System, IEA, 2019 [2] Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, IPCC, 2018
WNA – Press release Agneta Rising, World Nuclear Association Director General, will be speaking on 6 December at a COP24 side-event organised by the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future initiative, which was established in 2018 at the ninth Clean Energy Ministerial meeting. Ms Rising will be presenting the case that achieving the nuclear industry’s Harmony goal of supplying 25% of the world’s electricity from nuclear energy by 2050 as part of a decarbonized generation mix is a vital element of a credible response to climate change. To achieve this will require the construction of 1000 GWe of new nuclear capacity to work together with other low-carbon technologies. The future decarbonization of the electricity sector is central to tackling climate change: global electricity production accounts for 40% of total emissions and coal and gas still dominate generation, producing 63% of the world’s electricity. Nuclear power is a low-carbon source of energy. The median lifecycle emissions from nuclear are 12g/kWh, similar to wind energy. Thanks to nuclear displacing fossil fuels, more than 60 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions have been avoided globally since 1970. Decarbonizing the electricity sector is a considerable challenge. Despite massive investments, renewable energies alone will not be enough to achieve the decarbonization required. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that the cost of decarbonizing electricity is much lower when the mix includes substantial amounts of nuclear together with renewables. Abundant low-carbon electricity will not only be needed for today’s uses of electricity. Greater use of clean electricity is the preferred tool for achieving deep decarbonization in other sectors, such as transport. There have been significant developments in 2018 that have highlighted the importance of nuclear energy as a major contributor to climate change mitigation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report, detailing what would be needed to limit global warming to 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels, notes that the ‘scalability and speed of scaling of nuclear plants have been high in many nations’ – highlighting the case of France, which successfully decarbonised much of its electricity mix in under 20 years by establishing a generation mix predominantly supplied by nuclear power. Global nuclear generation exceeded 2500 TWh for the first time in five years in 2017, with nuclear supplying 10.5% of the world’s electricity needs. Nine nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 10.4GWe have started up so far this year, the highest amount since 1990. Next year 14 reactors with a total capacity of nearly 15 GWe are due to start operations. Poland, COP24’s host nation, announced in its draft energy strategy, published on 22 November, that it expects its first nuclear power plant to be running by 2033, with nuclear capacity growing to 6-9 GWe by 2043. The Polish Energy minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski said “The nuclear power plant will help us accelerate carbon emissions reductions.” These developments are vital to achieving the nuclear industry’s Harmony goal. But to accelerate this progress will require governments to bring about policy change to allow nuclear energy to make its full contribution. Only by decarbonizing electricity generation, with nuclear energy playing a major role, can we deliver on the Paris agreement commitments. The NICE Future side event on “Clean, Reliable Energy: Accelerating Emissions Reductions and Energy Security through Innovative Technology and uses of Advanced Nuclear Energy” will take place during COP24 on December 6, 10:00-11:30 CET, Lubelskie Climate Room 3. For more information, read the World Nuclear News Viewpoint.
World Nuclear Association – Press release “Nuclear generation helps ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. By offering an alternative to fossil fuels, which produce air pollution, nuclear helps ensure healthy lives and well-being. By allowing rapid decarbonisation of electricity nuclear helps take urgent action on climate change. Nuclear desalination can help ensure access to clean water, and by supplying affordable, reliable 24/7 electricity nuclear contributes to sustainable economic growth.” These comments were made by Agneta Rising, World Nuclear Association Director General, during the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Ministerial Conference of the Ninth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development. The forum is bringing together a broad range of UN and international energy organizations to examine energy transition and decarbonization. Rising welcomed the fact that such a wide range of low carbon energy technologies, including nuclear energy, were being discussed under the auspices of the UN. Rising said “Substituting energy supplied by fossil fuels with electricity generated from nuclear energy and other low carbon sources is a practical proposition to deliver a clean energy transition.” The number of influential bodies acknowledging the importance of nuclear energy in the climate and energy challenge is growing. In October the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported to the UN on the impacts of climate change and what would be needed to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C. They concluded that achieving the 1.5°C goal will require global greenhouse gas emissions to start reducing almost immediately. Nuclear generation increases by an average of around 2.5 times by 2050 in the 89 mitigation scenarios considered by the IPCC. Notes for the Editor The Ninth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development is being co-organized by the Government of Ukraine and the five UN Regional Commissions in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), UN Environment, The World Bank, International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), European Commission, International Energy Charter, International Energy Forum (IEF), the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Dartmouth College, Climate Action Network (CAN), Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) and World Nuclear Association (WNA). The Forum’s goal is to provide a unique opportunity for policymakers and experts from various parts of the energy sector to reflect on the implications of the fast-paced energy transition that has become the new normal, review the activities to date and to make further progress towards meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In questo numero: il futuro del nucleare passa dai giovani italiani protagonisti del settore in tutto il mondo, le nuove sfide sulla fusione, scenari internazionali e tanto altro ancora. Per leggere “On l’AIN” CLICCA QUI