Nucleareurope moderates R&I session during SET Plan conference

On 14 November 2023, nucleareurope Director General Yves Desbazeille moderated a session dedicated to Research & Innovation (R&I) success stories in the nuclear sector during the 2023 SET Plan conference held in Barcelona, Spain.  

During his introductory statement, he drew attention to the strong ambitions of the EU Green Deal. At the same time, he noted that the situation in Ukraine and current energy crisis has changed the status quo and therefore policies need to be adapted accordingly.  Furthermore, a growing number of Member States are clearly in favour of having nuclear as part of the energy mix, as reflected by the establishment of the Nuclear Alliance. 

This alliance has set the ambitious target of 150GW of installed nuclear capacity in the EU by 2050 – this means a 50% increase compared to what we have today.  Achieving this will require a combination of

• The long-term operation of the existing fleet (potentially up to 80 years). 
• A strong new build programme (both large and small modular reactors).
• Development of advanced reactors.

R&I and skills are just some of the issues which will need to be tackled if we are to achieve this goal.

Watch the session here in full!

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