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The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report, Electricity 2024, dedicates a significant amount of space to nuclear power – a departure from its previous studies which treated it as peripheral. In its press release on the new report, IEA says the increase in electricity generation from renewables and nuclear "appears to be pushing the power sector's emissions into structural decline". Over the next three years, low-emissions generation is set to rise at twice the annual growth rate between 2018 and 2023. Global emissions from electricity generation are expected to decrease by 2.4% in 2024, followed by smaller declines in 2025 and 2026.

Date: Friday, 26 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiea-acknowledges-significance-of-nuclear-energy-in-new-report-11463539

Belgium, Italy and Romania have formed a consortium with US-based Westinghouse Electric to develop a small modular lead-cooled fast neutron reactor (SMR-LFR). Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the presence of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who was on an official visit to Brussels, and representatives from the Italian and US embassies in Belgium. The organisations taking part in the project, along with Westinghouse, are: Italy’s Ansaldo Nucleare and National Agency for New Technologies, Energy & Sustainable Economic Development ENEA (Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile); Romanian Atomic Energy Technology Company RATEN (Regia Autonoma Tehnologii pentru Energia Nucleara); and Belgian nuclear research centre SCK CEN.

Date: Saturday, 11 November 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsnew-consortium-to-develop-and-globally-deploy-lead-cooled-fast-reactors-11286739

Five partners from Belgium, Italy, Romania and the USA have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development, demonstration and commercialisation of lead-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs).

Date: Friday, 10 November 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Consortium-to-speed-up-development-of-lead-cooled

India and France have agreed to strengthen their defence and security partnership following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. Following extensive discussions, a joint communique noted the strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Among other things, it “recognised that the promotion of clean and low-carbon energy, the preservation of biodiversity, the protection of the oceans and the fight against pollution were essential aspects of cooperation”.

Date: Thursday, 20 July 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsindia-and-france-strengthen-defence-and-security-partnership-including-nuclear-11018226

Global optimism ‘rising’ about potential of reactors to help achieve net zero emissions Fatih Birol (left) and Rafael Grossi at the International Atomic Energy Agency discussion on nuclear power at Cop27 in Egypt. Courtesy IAEA. Nuclear power is making “a strong comeback”, but the international financial community has so far “failed” to provide the level playing field needed for nuclear to help the world tackle its most pressing challenges, from climate change to sustainable development, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol told the Cop27 United Nations climate conference in in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Birol told an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discussion on nuclear power: “I don’t give them a passing grade.”

“Countries that were saying goodbye to nuclear power, they are rethinking their plans,” Birol said, adding that the IEA had been engaged in talks with both Belgium and Germany.

“We are very happy that both governments are now in the process of postponing their nuclear phaseout plans, understanding the role that nuclear plays in addressing this energy security challenge,” he said.

In addition, another group of countries is now considering extending the lifetime of their existing nuclear power reactors to respond to this challenge, which is one of the cheapest forms of low carbon power, Birol said. Still another group of countries are rolling out plans to build new reactors, including seemingly “surprising” ones such as the Netherlands and Poland as well as Japan and South Korea.

Date: Friday, 11 November 2022
Original article: nucnet.org/news/nuclear-making-strong-comeback-but-financial-community-has-failed-to-provide-level-playing-field-11-4-2022

Given the EU's legally binding 2050 comprehensive decarbonisation policy with adequate CO2 pricing, the closure of many large nuclear power plants in Belgium and Germany, and an EU-wide coal power phase out by 2030-2050 and the inability of intermittent renewable energy to supply the scale and quality of energy needed for continent-scale decarbonisation, there is a strong business case to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in the EU by 2040, writes Kalev Kallemets, co-founder and CEO of Fermi Energia.

Date: Friday, 08 October 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-Energy-crisis-demands-quickly-scalable-S

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

The challenges the nuclear industry faces are largely external and must be overcome if it is to help tackle the existential threat of climate change, panellists in the Nuclear Energy and its Future session of the Reuters Next conference on 11 January said. These challenges include: the notion nuclear is an out-dated technology; the cost of finance; market design; political changes; perceived competition with renewable energy; and the public's misconceptions about radioactive waste.

Date: Friday, 15 January 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/The-real-challenges-to-nuclear-are-external,-says