The World Nuclear Association welcomed a record 800 delegates to its annual symposium in London last week. The symposium addressed developments in fuel, supply chains in emerging markets, finance, end energy users and the role of nuclear energy in meeting the world’s decarbonisation goals.
Sama Bilbao y Leon, director-general of the World Nuclear Association (WNA), said that the growth in attendees from outside the sector showed that “the global nuclear industry is at a crucial moment. Decision makers from outside the sector seriously want nuclear for its benefits – clean, reliable, secure, affordable energy. And for the socio-economic development, the jobs, the ability to decarbonise the entire economy.”
Some of Thursday’s key moments included China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) chief economist Huang Mingang’s sceptical comment on the financing of SMRs. He said: “So far, we cannot rely on SMRs to generate electricity, because the cost is currently too high.”
Mingang’s comments come just after CNNC announced that its Linglong One SMR was nearing completion after the lower part of the reactor internals were installed.
China is developing a large SMR for industrial applications like steel production, or to provide heating for communities or industry, Mingang said, adding that at 125MW in capacity it is “too big” for use in off-grid areas. Along with this, ENEC confirmed that unit 4 of the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had entered commercial operation, claiming that the full-fleet operations will enable the generation of up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity demand.
On Friday, discussing the financing of nuclear projects, Sebastien Henbest, HSBC’s head of climate transition, said that there needs to be a way of tapping into “manufacturing volume” when constructing SMRs. However, countries need to select one SMR design and go ahead with issuing licences for that model.
“There are roughly 80 different [SMR designs] out there in the world, but only three have been built. To help give the finance sector confidence the governments should pick winners, but they don’t like doing that.”
