nucleareurope discusses nuclear innovation at SET Plan conference

​On 14 November 2024, nucleareurope Policy Director Andrei Goicea participated in a panel discussion on nuclear innovation and safety, organised in the framework of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan conference, taking place in Budapest on 14 and 15 November.

In his intervention, Andrei first gave an overview of nuclear applications beyond electricity production, highlighting that the generation of both power and heat by nuclear could for example support district and industrial heating, hydrogen generation or new chemical processes. He added that many sectors -from space exploration to medical research- used nuclear technologies, and that nuclear innovation would allow to further develop nuclear applications beyond power.

Andrei then presented the nuclear industry’s vision for 2050, centred around the Nuclear Alliance objective of 150GW of nuclear installed capacity in the EU by 2050. He stressed that reaching this objective would entail building over 115GW of new reactors, in the form of large reactors, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs).

“The recently released ‘Pathways to 2050’ report shows that aiming for 150GW of installed nuclear capacity in the EU by 2050 would allow to decarbonise faster, at lower costs, while ensuring security of supply” said Andrei, adding that nuclear innovation in the field of SMRs and AMRs would play a key role in developing European nuclear capacities.

Andrei concluded his presentation by detailing the work carried out by the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs to facilitate and accelerate the development, demonstration and deployment of first SMRs projects in Europe in the early 2030s. He outlined the working methods of the Alliance’s technical and project working groups, noting that the Alliance would produce technology roadmaps in the fourth quarter of 2024, and elaborate a strategic action plan in the first quarter of 2025.