2025 was a banner year for nuclear. Not only has the global commitment to tripling nuclear energy by 2050 continued to grow, but hardly a day went by without a major announcement on nuclear developments somewhere around the world. Just a few of the many announcements in 2025 include: And Read more
Two years after 25 countries signed the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050 at COP28 in Dubai, the momentum continues to build. This number grew to 31 at COP29 in Baku last year and now, at COP30 in Belem, Rwanda and Senegal became the 32nd and 33rd countries to Read more
We often hear about the benefits of deploying fleets of standardized designs to reduce the costs and risks of nuclear power plant construction. The concept is very clear. We repeat. We learn. We continuously improve. However, in the context of nuclear plant construction, standardization is often focused on repeating the Read more
Here in Canada, we love summer. Our winters are cold, and our summers are relatively short. Each year as our long dark winters come to an end, we are eager to shed our heavy clothing for shorts and T-shirts, get outside and enjoy the sunshine. So, who would imagine that Read more
As we entered 2025, we wrote that if we truly want to deliver on the pledge to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050, this is the year to start making things happen. While attention is often focused on reactor designs, financing models, or supply chain readiness, you can’t build new Read more
Today we continue our series on nuclear project financing. In this post we will discuss why it may be a desirable for customers to start making payments during the construction period rather than wait until a nuclear plant has been completed as is the more traditional approach to new plant Read more
When discussing the future of nuclear power plant construction, there is general agreement that to control costs and risks there is a need to build a fleet of standardized designs. The 2024 US DOE Liftoff report clearly states a committed order book of 5–10 deployments of a single reactor design Read more
As we reported last month at COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Government Pledge to triple global nuclear by 2050 added six new signatories bringing the total number of countries who have signed the pledge to 31. Support for nuclear power to both meet countries’ clean energy and energy security Read more
As COP 29 got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, expanding nuclear power continued to be high on the agenda. The Government Pledge to triple global nuclear signed at last year’s COP 28 in Dubai added six new signatories this year, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Türkiye, bring the total Read more
The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than 2 years now with unimaginable suffering to its people. Yet somehow the press continues to focus on the risks at Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhya. On April 11, 2024, the IAEA director general reported that “direct attacks against Zaporizhzhya Read more
In our last two posts we looked at the pledge signed by more than 20 countries at COP28 in Dubai to triple the amount of nuclear globally by 2050 and the pledge made by more than 120 companies in the nuclear industry to meet this challenge. This month we comment Read more
In our last post we looked at the pledge signed by more than 20 countries at COP28 in Dubai to triple the amount of nuclear globally by 2050. This month we consider the pledge made by more than 120 companies in the nuclear industry to meet this challenge and support Read more
Earlier this year, we wrote a post stating that “in 2022 the world acknowledged that net zero needs nuclear – in 2023 it will realize it needs a whole lot of it.” Well, as 2023 draws to a close, it has! This month at COP28 in Dubai, more than 20 Read more
If you live in a relatively rich country (other than the United States), how often have you heard someone bemoaning government policies to cut carbon emissions say something like – “since we only emit about 1% of global CO2, we could cut our emissions to zero, and it would make Read more
In our recent post on nuclear project financing, we noted the importance of reducing risk to investors to ensure projects can raise sufficient competitively priced capital needed to build them. Today we will discuss project structures. What are they and why are they important? The project structure is how the Read more
Early last month, Vogtle Unit 3, the first new nuclear plant to be built in the United States in decades, went critical, meaning it started to nuclear fission and move down the path to producing its first electricity and becoming operational. This was great news as the project has had Read more
In March, Kuosheng Unit 2 became the latest nuclear unit to be retired following the expiry of its 40-year operating licence in accordance with Taiwan’s nuclear phase-out policy. This is the fourth unit to be shut down in Taiwan leaving just two more operating units at Maanshan. When their licences Read more
We often hear that financing is a major issue for nuclear projects that creates significant impediments to new projects moving forward. There are myriads of thoughts and ideas on how to fix this, from various clever project contractual structures to identifying new non-traditional sources of funds. But other than stating Read more
On December 15, 2022, the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) issued ”Pathways to Decarbonization – A report to the Minister of Energy to evaluate a moratorium on new natural gas generation in Ontario and to develop a pathway to zero emissions in the electricity sector”. This report considers a Read more
With COP27 in Egypt coming to a close, there is broader acceptance of the role for nuclear power in solving the climate crisis, as it is one of the few electricity generation options that positively impacts all three dimensions of the energy trilemma. What is the energy trilemma? It is Read more