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Italy is a steadfast partner in the challenges facing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today with a long history of achievements in the nuclear field, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi commented, as he travelled to Rome. During his two-day visit, Grossi met with Italy’s President and Foreign Minister, as well as with Pope Francis. Discussions covered a variety of issues including nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, nuclear non-proliferation, and the role of nuclear science and technology in combating climate change.

Date: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsgrossi-holds-talks-with-italian-leaders-and-pope-francis-10523617

Reactor fleet generates a quarter of Europe’s electricity “A range of studies have confirmed that the long-term operation of the existing nuclear fleet is the cheapest source of electricity," said Yves Desbazeille, Foratom's head. Brussels-based nuclear industry group Foratom has published a position paper calling for the long-term operation (LTO) of the European Union’s domestic nuclear reactor fleet as a way to achieve the bloc’s climate goals at an “affordable cost”, while also reducing energy import dependency.

Foratom said “an increasing number of experts” recognise that the energy sector’s decarbonisation cannot be achieved by using renewable sources alone and must be coupled with nuclear power if the world is to reach its net zero goals by 2050.

In this regard, the group said, the LTO of Europe’s nuclear plants can help meet mid-term emission reduction targets by 2030, reduce the EU’s energy import dependency and boost security of supply, and support the integration of more variable renewables to the grid.

Date: Thursday, 16 December 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/long-term-operation-of-existing-nuclear-to-help-eu-meet-2030-climate-targets-12-3-2021

The urgent need to reduce emissions and slow global heating should involve the roll-out of more nuclear power stations, according to a new briefing released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on 11 August. In the run up to the COP 21 meeting in Glasgow, UNECE argues that nuclear power can help deliver on the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNECE, set up in 1947, is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. Its main aim is to promote pan-European economic integration. UNECE includes 56 member states in Europe, North America, Central Asia and Western Asia.

Date: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsunece-says-nuclear-power-essential-to-achieve-climate-goals-9007938

Nuclear power can be part of a broader portfolio alongside deploying other sustainable low- or zero-carbon technologies to decarbonise the global energy system and energy intensive industries, according to a new technology brief from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The publication highlights nuclear power as an important source of low-carbon energy that can contribute to attaining carbon neutrality and for policy-makers who wish to meet climate and sustainable development objectives using nuclear power should provide positive, long-term policy signals for new nuclear development.

Date: Thursday, 12 August 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Policies-must-allow-nuclear-to-play-its-vital-role

Reactors ‘can support’ bloc’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals Yves Desbazeille spoke at the Nuclear Europe 2021 online event held from Brussels. Image courtesy Foratom. More effort should be made by European policymakers to help preserve existing commercial nuclear fleets for as long as technical and safety conditions can be met, according to Yves Desbazeille, director-general of Brussels-based nuclear industry group Foratom.

Mr Desbazeille said during an online conference organised by Foratom that the group’s analysis has shown that long-term operation of nuclear plants can support “most of the efforts” needed for the EU to reach its 55% greenhouse gas emission reduction goals by 2030.

Foratom data shows that there are 107 reactors in commercial operation in Europe, including four in Switzerland, but excluding the UK fleet of 13 reactor units (without Dungeness B).

Date: Tuesday, 29 June 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/more-effort-needed-to-keep-existing-nuclear-plants-operating-says-foratom-head-6-1-2021

Thirty-five years on from the Chernobyl accident, Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have highlighted their commitment to cooperation in nuclear power. Meanwhile Ukraine’s nuclear regulator has launched the start of operations at a new storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the Chernobyl site.  

Date: Wednesday, 28 April 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Title

A group of 46 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from 18 countries has written to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, calling for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy for sustainable investments. The exclusion of nuclear, they say, would promote a strategy that is "clearly inadequate" to decarbonise the region's economy.

Date: Thursday, 08 April 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/NGOs-call-for-nuclears-inclusion-in-EU-taxonomy

New-build projects are making progress, but governments are still struggling with finding the right financing package for large reactors The delayed Flamanville-3 is one of three EPR units under construction in Europe. The others are at Olkiluoto in Finland and Hinkley Point in the UK. Photo courtesy EDF. Western Europe

The UK is facing a major challenge to replace its aging fleet of Generation I nuclear power plants, many of which are scheduled to shut down in 2023.

The project by French state utility EDF to build two Generation III EPR units at Hinkley Point C in Somerset is on track for connection to the grid by 2025. Once in commercial operation the two units will provide up to 7% of the total electricity demand. Two similar units are planned for the Sizewell site in Suffolk.

However, press reports have suggested EDF is in “a race against time” to secure a funding deal for Sizewell C as delays risk making the project prohibitively expensive.

According to The Times newspaper EDF has hired Rothschild as financial adviser for the project and says it wants a “definitive way forward” from the government this year so it can start construction in 2022.

Date: Friday, 17 January 2020
Original article: nucnet.org/news/what-lies-in-store-in-2020-1-4-2020

Climate scientist James E Hansen and others have written to the Financial Times, making the case for the inclusion of nuclear power in the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. The text of the letter, published yesterday, and the list of signatories to it, follows.

Date: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-EU-must-include-nuclear-power-in-its-lis