Javascript is required for this site.
Working Groups are forums through which the enterprises of the global nuclear industry share best practice, conduct analysis, and develop consolidated positions on economic, safety and environmental issues.
READ MORE >
A career development programme preparing nuclear professionals for future challenges.
Japan, June-July 2021
On 9-11 September 2020, World Nuclear Association held Strategic eForum 2020, a series of high-level panel discussions.
On 2 September, World Nuclear Association held a pre-event to the Strategic eForum entitled Industry Gamechangers.
World Nuclear Association staff participate in a number of external conferences.
View the upcoming events that the Association is supporting.
World Nuclear Association
Published: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:17:28 GMT
Ontario Power Generation, its subsidiary Laurentis Energy Partners, BWXT ITG Canada Inc and its affiliates yesterday said they are making "significant progress" towards the production of molydbenum-99 at OPG's Darlington plant. Darlington will be the first large-scale nuclear power station to produce the medical radioisotope, they said.
Published: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 13:37:57 GMT
The commercial deployment of small modular reactors will bring new supply chain opportunities as well as challenges, panellists at an event to launch a World Nuclear Association report said this week. The World Nuclear Supply Chain: Outlook 2040 analyses the economic value of the nuclear power industry and provides a market-oriented review of the opportunities and challenges for nuclear power plants and their supply chain over the next two decades.
Published: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 08:23:12 GMT
Carolina Schmidt and Alok Sharma - respectively, COP25 president and COP26 president-designate - yesterday issued a joint plea for new and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions and net-zero targets ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Published: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 14:44:04 GMT
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has welcomed the nuclear industry into its debate on the policy responses required to address climate change and sustainable development. Today, UNECE's Expert Group on Resource Management held a session titled The role of nuclear energy resources in sustainable development as part of UNECE Energy Week 2020.
Published: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 15:16:00 GMT
The US Department of Energy has approved Critical Decision 1 for the Versatile Test Reactor, meaning the project can now move to the engineering design phase. DOE has requested USD295 million for FY 2021 for the one-of-a-kind facility that would support research and development of innovative nuclear energy and other technologies.
Published: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 14:06:29 GMT
World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising said today that the changes needed to transition to a more sustainable future will not happen without the participation of a diverse workforce, and the greater inclusion of women. Speaking to participants in a side event to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 64th General Conference, Rising said the energy sector remains one of the most gender-imbalanced, and that the nuclear sector was no exception.
Published: Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:29:20 GMT
A project to remove the last remaining batch of unirradiated highly enriched uranium fuel from Kazakhstan has been completed in a joint effort by Kazakhstan and the USA, the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has announced. The two nations have also signed a new joint statement reaffirming their intention to continue to work together to support the common goal of minimising nuclear proliferation, ensuring nuclear security and strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 14:59:10 GMT
The 2020s are likely to be a time of uncertainty for global energy systems with the growing recognition that business-as-usual is unsustainable and represents a threat to humanity, but the global transition to low-carbon energy and the post-COVID recovery will be a time of opportunity for the nuclear energy sector and its supply chain, according to the 2020 edition of a World Nuclear Association report that analyses the economic value of the nuclear power industry. The report is the work of the Association's Supply Chain working group, which is chaired by Laurent-Olivier Coudeyre of EDF.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 13:04:57 GMT
The United Arab Emirates' world records in the development of solar power do not distract from an ambition to expand its use of nuclear energy to help facilitate the transition to a clean economy, UAE Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui said yesterday. In his address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial, the minister explained the progress the UAE has made with its Energy Strategy 2050.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 12:20:52 GMT
Digital twins of every unit in France's fleet of nuclear power reactors are to be developed under a four-year project involving partners from academia and industry. These cloned reactors will serve as a training simulator for the new generation of operators and a simulation environment for engineering studies.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 11:26:03 GMT
JSC Akkuyu Nuklear has announced the completion of concrete pouring of the reactor and turbine buildings' foundation slabs at unit 2 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant under construction in Mersin province, in southern Turkey. The 4800 MWe plant will comprise four VVER1200 reactors and is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. Rosatom’s first build-own-operate venture, the USD20 billion project is based on an inter-governmental agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in May 2010.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 10:53:02 GMT
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak yesterday highlighted the contribution of the country's nuclear power sector, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary, to the transition to low-carbon energy. During his address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial, Novak said the climate agenda was becoming an increasingly significant factor in changes to the wider energy industry.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 09:29:28 GMT
The UK government has launched a COP26 Energy Transition Council to bring together leaders of the global power sector, to accelerate the transition from coal to clean power. Announcing the initiative at a Clean Energy Ministerial side event, Martin Callanan said this new partnership would "speed progress" for the next round of UN climate talks, in November 2020. Callanan, a life peer, delivered a keynote speech on behalf of COP President Designate Alok Sharma, at the CEM11 discussion Passing the Tipping Point: the next decade of clean energy cooperation held on 21 September.
Published: Wed, 23 Sep 2020 08:28:32 GMT
The world has entered a new era of energy transition - energy for people, planet and prosperity - and the big question facing us all is how it can emerge faster from crisis as stronger, connected energy societies, World Energy Council Secretary General and CEO Angela Wilkinson said in her address to the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial yesterday. Hosted this year by Saudi Arabia, the event was held entirely via live streaming.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 15:44:23 GMT
Nuclear innovation is driving improvement in all parts of the industry, enhancing reliability, efficiency, economics and flexibility, World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising told the International Atomic Energy Agency's Scientific Forum 2020 today. She said innovation is accelerating the development and commercialisation of small modular reactors opening up additional applications for nuclear energy.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:18:36 GMT
Nuclear power must be included in all debates about the clean energy transition and tackling climate change, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today at the opening session of the Agency's Scientific Forum 2020. Panellists in the first session agreed there were issues that the industry must address in order to support its messages about the benefits of nuclear energy.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:55:56 GMT
World Nuclear Association has called on policymakers to accelerate the development and commercialisation of small modular reactors as well as fast-tracking the deployment of large-scale reactors in a policy paper released today. The message is clear that to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, global carbon emissions must decrease rapidly, the Association says in The need for large and small nuclear, today and tomorrow. A global effort towards establishing a sustainable energy system - with the electricity sector at the heart of it - is under way, and the need for clean, abundant and affordable electricity is widely recognised, it says.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 13:16:34 GMT
The European Court of Justice has rejected Austria's appeal against the European Commission's 2014 decision to approve the UK's support for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, which is under construction in Somerset, England. The Court of Justice, the supreme court of the European Union in matters of EU law, agreed with the Commission that the project is in line with EU state aid rules.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 12:43:39 GMT
Uzbekistan is "making great strides" in developing its nuclear and regulatory infrastructure in strong partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Uzbek Minister of Energy Alisher Sultanov told participants in the 64th IAEA General Conference yesterday. Speaking via video-link to the annual event in Vienna, Sultanov provided an update on the Central Asian country’s new nuclear power programme.
Published: Mon, 21 Sep 2020 12:18:40 GMT
The fight against the coronavirus pandemic has underscored the important role the International Atomic Energy Agency plays in the major crises the world faces, its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said today in his opening address to the 64th regular session of the IAEA General Conference. These remarks were in addition to his formal statement published by the agency while he was speaking to the conference's participants, both those present at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna and those watching via livestreaming of the event.
Published: Mon, 21 Sep 2020 14:47:57 GMT
Sweden's radioactive waste management company generally meets the legal requirements for ensuring the safe operation of the central interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel (Clab) at Oskarshamn and the SFR repository for low and intermediate-level waste at Forsmark, the regulator said. The Radiation Safety Authority said Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB can therefore continue to operate the facilities until the next overall assessment in 2028.
Published: Mon, 21 Sep 2020 14:41:55 GMT
The IAEA continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement, and evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities continue, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today in his opening address to the 64th regular session of IAEA General Conference.
Published: Mon, 21 Sep 2020 11:49:42 GMT
Ontario Power Generation's Centre for Canadian Nuclear Sustainability has announced a collaboration agreement between Laurentis Energy Partners and BWXT Canada to develop technology that will assist in the recycling of heavy water at OPG's nuclear facilities. Canada's Candu pressurised heavy water reactors use unenriched, or "natural", uranium oxide fuel and heavy water as both the moderator to slow down neutrons in the reactor's core and as the reactor coolant.
Published: Fri, 18 Sep 2020 13:32:41 GMT
Safety improvement work to enable Mihama unit 3 and Takahama unit 1 - both in Japan's Fukui Prefecture - to operate for an additional 20 years, to 60 years, has now been completed, Kansai Electric Power Company announced today. Work needed to extend the operation of unit 2 of the Takahama plant continues.
Published: Fri, 18 Sep 2020 15:06:19 GMT
An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts today completed a review of the long-term operational safety of unit 3 of the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden. The team assessed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes related to long-term operation against IAEA safety standards.
Published: Fri, 18 Sep 2020 14:25:05 GMT
The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate has announced that the operating licence of the Mühleberg nuclear power plant has been replaced with a decommissioning order issued by the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication. The single unit 373 MWe boiling water reactor began operations in 1972.
Published: Thu, 17 Sep 2020 12:06:33 GMT
The nuclear industry has merely scratched the surface of the flexible benefits of nuclear power, according to panellists in a conference held this week ahead of the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial. The CEM11 side-event, Flexibility in Clean Energy Systems: The Enabling Roles of Nuclear Energy, included high-level speakers from the International Energy Agency, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as government officials from Canada, the UK and the USA. Hosted by Saudi Arabia, CEM11 will take place on 22 September.
Published: Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:21:14 GMT
An Australian Senate committee has recommended that Parliament pass legislation that would make Napandee in South Australia the site for a low and medium-level nuclear waste facility. The Senate Standing Committee on Economics issued its final report on the provisions of the National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment (Site Specification, Community Fund and Other Measures) Bill 2020 on 14 September.
Published: Tue, 22 Sep 2020 15:12:44 GMT
As Member States of the International Atomic Energy Agency gather in Vienna this week for the annual General Conference, they should consider making universal the appointment of a National Focal Point on denials of shipment of radioactive materials to boost security of supply of medical isotopes, write Natanael Bruno and Serge Gorlin, co-chairs of the Transport Facilitation Working Group.
Published: Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:07:06 GMT
The International Atomic Energy Agency is accepting applications for its Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme. The programme, launched in March, aims to encourage young women to pursue a career in nuclear science and technology, nuclear safety and security, or non-proliferation.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 1521
events@world-nuclear.org