nucleareurope gives keynote speech at FOREN conference
On 19 June, nucleareurope Policy Director Andrei Goicea gave a keynote speech at the Central & Eastern Europe World Energy Council regional energy forum (FOREN conference), introducing a session on the role of nuclear energy in the Central and Eastern Europe area. This 3 day event held in Romania focused on the general topic of rethinking the future of the world through secure, clean and efficient energy, gathering participants from across the energy industries and government.
Following an overview of the current contribution of the nuclear sector to the European economy, Andrei gave a presentation on the long term perspectives for nuclear , stressing that the objective set by the Nuclear Alliance of reaching 150GW of installed nuclear capacity in the EU by 2050 is attainable, thanks to the lifetime extension of existing power plants as well as the deployment of nuclear new build, including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs).
Andrei noted that with the current needs for the EU to decarbonise electricity production, but also hydrogen and heat, many EU Member States have announced plans to invest in or continue using nuclear energy, and that an increasing number of countries are now supportive of nuclear.
“At European level, we are seeing positive developments in the sector, with the recent launch of the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs supported by nucleareurope for example, but it is essential that the policy framework evolves to treat nuclear energy on an equal footing with other net-zero technologies” said Andrei, adding that it was essential that policy makers adopt technology neutral decarbonisation objectives for the EU.
Andrei concluded his presentation by outlining the nuclear industry’s priorities for the next European Commission, as laid out in its manifesto released on 13 June:
- To treat all net-zero technologies equally
- To implement consistent and coherent policies which facilitate the deployment of nuclear
- To allow nuclear to access EU funds and finance
- To include the nuclear fuel cycle as an enabling activity under the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
- To ensure that low-carbon technologies are not discriminated against in taxation policies
- To enable innovative nuclear technologies to access EU funds beyond the Euratom programme and provide greater support for nuclear research
- To support and invest in the development of a skilled nuclear workforce.