In December European leaders agreed to make the European Union carbon neutral by 2050. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as Europe’s “man on the moon” moment. With this kind of strong statement of commitment, you would think that EU countries would use every option available to Read more…
It’s hard to believe, but a new decade is upon us. (We wrote the decade and nuclear power in our post earlier this year celebrating 10 years of blogging.) As the decade comes to a close, 2019 seems to be the year that climate change is finally being taken seriously, Read more…
It has been more than a decade since the nuclear industry focused its attention on the next generation of nuclear plants, the Generation III designs. Most of the world’s current operating fleet (440 nuclear reactors in 30 countries) are classified as Generation II plants, the first generation of truly commercial Read more…
Here in Canada, we recently held a bitterly fought federal election with the outcome being the existing government was returned to power but reduced to a minority. One of the big issues this election cycle was climate change. It was fascinating to watch as one side claimed government was not Read more…
On the cusp of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York where there was a collective outrage at the slow pace of decarbonization in the world, we lost another operating nuclear plant before its time as Three Mile Island Unit 1 closed after 45 years of operation. It Read more…
The facts are clear. Nuclear power is a critical part of our global low carbon electricity generation system. It provides abundant, reliable and economic low carbon electricity needed to power our energy hungry economies. Yet, as stated in the recent IEA report, Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System, even Read more…
It has been a wonderful experience participating in the World Nuclear University (WNU) for the last 12 years. The best part has been meeting fascinating people who are interested in nuclear power in so many different countries. I am involved in two WNU programs, the WNU 3-day short course – Read more…
The International Energy Agency (IEA) plays an important role in looking at the global energy scene. Every year it publishes the World Energy Outlook (WEO) providing important information and analysis to countries to support their development of energy policy. Over the years, the focus of the WEO has been to Read more…
It’s hard to believe, but this month it is 10 years since our first blog post in May of 2009. 10 years! And what a decade it has been for the nuclear power industry. There were highs and lows, and most of all change….. In 2009, there was still optimism Read more…
We often speak about the incredible energy density of nuclear fuel; a pellet the size of the end of your finger can deliver as much energy as a ton of coal. In addition to producing a large amount of energy from a very small amount of resource, the plants themselves Read more…