World Nuclear Association Blog

 
Registration has opened for the 37th Annual WNA Symposium and special discounts are available to those who book before 3 August. Those wishing to attend can register via this link.

The WNA Symposium is the nuclear industry’s premier event – an annual conference attended by over 700 leaders and specialists from more than 30 countries. The Symposium brings together the nuclear industry and its major stakeholders to discuss topics ranging from the nuclear fuel market to the practicalities of building new nuclear power plants.

Global electricity demand continues to grow rapidly, driven above all by Asian economic growth. Nuclear is seen as an indispensable part of the generating mix in a number of major countries. China, South Korea and India are seeking to secure and to diversify their energy supplies, with increasing use of nuclear energy.

For these plans to be realised, the nuclear industry will need to deliver on time and on budget. This remains arguably the greatest challenge for utilities, reactor vendors and the nuclear supply chain. It will also present a challenge for fuel cycle participants seeking to meet new demand. All this must be achieved in the face of ever greater scrutiny and regulatory demands. In some countries, nuclear will also have to contend with government policy skewed to assist competitor technologies that themselves will increase nuclear operating difficulties. The Symposium will focus on the ways in which the industry will meet these challenges.

The Call for Presentations for the 37th Annual WNA Symposium is now out, with an 18th May deadline for submissions. The WNA Symposium is the nuclear industry’s premier event – an annual conference attended by over 700 leaders and specialists from more than 30 countries. The Symposium brings together the nuclear industry and its major stakeholders to discuss topics ranging from the nuclear fuel market to the practicalities of building new nuclear power plants. 

The topics we are particularly looking to cover include, but will not be limited to:

• From mining to fabrication: the key issues for fuel supply in meeting growth.
• Adjusting to lower secondary supplies with the end of the US/Russia HEU Agreement.
• Keeping on track with waste management, decommissions and disposal.
• How the global supply chain can assist national industries to benefit from nuclear investments.
• Tried and tested: the challenges for our existing reactors.
• On budget, on time and on line: successfully implementing new build.
• Policy, technology and society: the challenges of future energy supply.

We welcome presentations on these and other topics from industry experts and external specialists. We particularly encourage proposals from professionals in emerging nuclear countries and from younger specialists.

Submitting a Proposal

Proposals for Presentations must be submitted in the form of an abstract by 18 May 2012 using this online form.

Over 250 delegates attended the first WNA India International Nuclear Symposium in New Delhi in February. The event was a great success and we thank all the delegates for their participation.

A full programme of presentations was mixed with networking opportunities.

A selection of photos from the conference is available on WNA's flickr page.

The third annual Nuclear Power Asia conference opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 31. The World Nuclear Association is the official partner of the conference. 

Delegates heard an overview of the Fukushima accident and lessons learned so far from Kimitoshi Yahagi, General Manager of Nuclear Power & Plant Siting Administrative Department, TEPCO, followed by the Keynote session moderated by WNA Deputy Director General Steve Kidd.

The WNA stand proves popular with delegates at Nuclear Power Asia 2012  

The World Nuclear Association is the official partner for the Nuclear Power Asia 2012 conference, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 31 January - 1 February next year. The conference will together nuclear stakeholders at the region’s largest nuclear power event, with 250 attendees, 40 global nuclear expert speakers and 20 exhibitors expected to attend. 

The conference will look at key questions including: 

• How to embark on long-term capacity building for future NPP Owner/Operator?
• What are the challenges in developing nuclear power infrastructure and are there
new approaches to address such challenges?
• Reactor design - the new safety assessment criteria; how much have things changed?
• Has it become more “expensive” to finance nuclear new build?

The conference programme features a strong mix of international and regional experts. The opening keynote session will be moderated by WNA Director General John Ritch. 

More details can be found on the conference website at www.nuclearpowerasia.com

 
WNA representatives are participating in a number of INPRO meetings at the IAEA in Vienna this week. INPRO (The International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles) was established in 2000 to help ensure that nuclear energy is available to contribute to meeting the energy needs of the 21st century in a sustainable manner. 

Danielle Goodman, from WNA member company Planergie, is taking a key role in an INPRO Dialogue Forum on Small and Medium-Sized Reactors. WNA's Jonathan Cobb is participating in the INPRO SYNERGIES meeting, which is looking at how international collaboration could have advantages for the development of sustainable nuclear fuel cycles. A number of representatives from WNA member companies are also participating in both meetings. More information on INPRO can be found on the IAEA's INPRO website.

The Australian Nuclear Association's 2011 conference will be looking at The Future of Nuclear Science and Technology. Nuclear science and technology continue to have increasing application in industry and research and Australia's OPAL reactor is now an established source of neutrons.

WNA's Director of Communications, Ian Hore-Lacy, will be helping round up the conference's discussions in a concluding panel sessions. The conference will be held on Friday 7 October. More details are available on the ANA website.

There is only a fortnight until the 36th WNA Annual Symposium. A world-class programme is now online, as well as abstracts of the presentations. It isn't too late to register. WNA member company delagates also wishing to attend working group meetings should also register for those, more details from the WNA Members website.

Coming up shortly after that is the 2nd China International Nuclear Symposium, being held in Hong Kong. More details here.