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The International Atomic Energy Agenry (IAEA) has announced the release of the 2022 edition of Country Nuclear Power Profiles (CNPP), marking more than two decades since the initial launch of the Agency’s comprehensive guide on the status and development of national nuclear power programmes worldwide. 

As more and more countries look to nuclear power to meet their climate change and energy security needs, the CNPP’s role is taking on greater importance in supporting the effective planning, decision making and implementation of nuclear power programmes as part of the IAEA’s overall efforts to support the safe and economical operation of nuclear power plants.

“The Country Nuclear Power Profiles have been fulfilling a vital need for a high-level overview of nuclear power infrastructure and developments of nuclear energy programmes in participating member states since 1998,” said Aline des Cloizeaux, Director of the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Power. “The consolidated set of reports, publicly available on the IAEA CNPP website and updated annually with the publication, typically ranks among the IAEA’s top 10 most accessed documents.” 

Thirty countries contributed new or updated information for the 2022 edition, ranging from those with operational and expanding nuclear power programmes to newcomers considering nuclear power, such as Kazakhstan, or countries in the construction phase, such as Bangladesh and Türkiye, which are on the verge of connecting their first NPPs to the grid. Countries that have phased out nuclear power, such as Italy, or are considering bringing it back, such as Lithuania, also feature in the report.

The 2022 edition also highlights key trends, including the increase in the number of national commitments to the development of nuclear power infrastructure; increased collaboration among IAEA member countries, the Agency and various other stakeholders; the importance of human resource development; progress in research and development to bring on board advanced reactor designs; as well as the need for robust plant life management for safe long-term operation programmes. 

Over the last few years, the CNPP has become more integrated with the IAEA's Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) database, which gathers statistical data about nuclear plant operations, energy and electricity use directly from national contributions. Together, both databases present a holistic and authoritative summation of the nuclear power programmes of participating countries. The latest PRIS publication, published in July, “Nuclear Power Reactors in the World”, features full nuclear power operating statistics for 2021 provided by IAEA member countries, demonstrating how, amid evolving global crises, nuclear power reached its second highest annual output of the last decade as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next year, the Agency will launch a new CNPP database and website, said Shin Whan Kim, Head of the IAEA’s Nuclear Power Engineering Section, which produces the annual CNPP report. “This new and improved platform will reflect the high level, publicly prominent and considerable efforts of the Member States who voluntarily provide this authoritative and critical information.”

Countries that participated this year include Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, the UK and the USA. The compiled reports were updated by government appointed CNPP Country Coordinators. The profiles are self-standing and contain information officially provided by the respective national authorities.

Date: Saturday, 22 October 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiaea-releases-annual-report-on-country-nuclear-power-profiles-10106867