This past year, as COP26 came and went, and the climate discussion turned from emission reductions to net zero targets; more and more governments have come to accept that nuclear power should, and in fact must, play an important role in meeting their aggressive climate goals. China is leading the Read more
The role of nuclear power in supporting global decarbonization was discussed more at this COP than at any previous one. We have seen articles with headlines like “Nuclear Was the Quiet Hero of COP26” talking about the gains made in getting people to listen to the arguments in support of Read more
In advance of COP26, the next important global meeting to discuss climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released it World Energy Outlook 2021 (and for the first time is offering it for free). And while it notes “a new energy economy is emerging”, it is telling us what we Read more
So far in 2021 two new countries have started producing nuclear energy for the first time. The UAE has put the first unit of its 4-unit Barakah plant into service with the second one following close behind. In Belarus, it is the same story, as the first unit of the Read more
President Moon Jae-in of South Korea followed through on his campaign pledge to reduce Korea’s reliance on nuclear power only a month after his inauguration in May 2017. He quickly announced Korea would stop building new reactors and not life extend those in operation. The objective was to replace nuclear Read more
When considering the sustainability of future low carbon energy sources, the focus tends to be on where the energy comes from. Renewable energy is seen as environmentally sustainable in that it is both low carbon and the resource unlimited; energy from the sun, wind and water will never run out. Read more
Europe is fully committed to addressing the climate crisis, targeting a 55% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 (from 2020 levels) and then becoming the world’s first carbon neutral continent by 2050. Today, almost half of its low carbon electricity comes from nuclear power as Europe has the world’s largest Read more
In December we wrote about the world’s drive to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. A laudable goal, the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2020 illustrates a possible path to getting there. This would be achieved through electrification (using clean electricity sources), efficiency gains and behaviour changes. The first two Read more
When it comes to the economics of electricity, there is no report more important than Projected Cost of Electricity, issued every 5 years by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). This report (now in its 9th edition) collects electricity costs of various technologies from Read more
Adopted in 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement (to date 188 of them have ratified it) accepting global ambition to limit global warming to “well below” 2C and adding an aspirational goal of limiting warming to 1.5C. The Paris deal also commits signatories to balance greenhouse gas emissions Read more
On October 22, 2020 Darlington Unit 1 achieved a milestone never achieved before by a nuclear power plant running for 1,000 days continuously without an outage, either unplanned or planned1. And it is still running. This unit, operated by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) secured the world record for continuous operations Read more
Nuclear power can provide almost limitless economic, reliable, low carbon electricity to power the world, yet it continues to struggle to achieve the respect it so desperately seeks. For 40 years we have been hearing the same thing – that for nuclear power to achieve its potential we must work Read more
Last year we started a 3-part series on Saving the planet with nuclear power. First, we talked about keeping the existing nuclear fleet operating as long as possible (Saving the planet step 1). Then, in step 2, we talked about building a new global fleet of large Generation III nuclear Read more
It has been about two months that most of us have been staying home to help flatten the curve of the COVID 19 pandemic. While it may seem difficult, we keep telling our kids how lucky we are to have incomes as we work from home to limit our health Read more
At the Canadian Nuclear Association conference on February 27, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, made the Canadian position on the role of nuclear power to combat climate change crystal clear. “As the world tackles a changing climate, nuclear power is poised to provide the next wave Read more
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