The speakers discussed the role of nuclear power in addressing climate change and energy independence. The panellists brought their privileged views on the issue highlighting the important role of nuclear power in today’s energy system and the fundamental importance it will continue to have in the future to tackle climate change.
Nuclear power today is attracting the interest of an increasing number of countries that want to introduce it into their energy mix or expand their existing projects. This is the case in Poland, which, as recounted by Anna Moskwa, has chosen in 2021 to start a path that will lead them to building their first reactor starting in 2026, with the support of 74% of the Polish population. Rafael Mariano Grossi also added that not a week goes by without him receiving a government representative from a developing country or smaller economy on a visit to the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna to describe the possibilities offered by small nuclear reactors. The competitive costs of today’s nuclear power, combined with its demonstrated safety, already make nuclear power an important option for many countries.
But it is because of the technologies being developed today that nuclear power will be able to gain even more momentum in the future. Our CEO Stefano Buono described how small modular reactors can introduce passive safety features and extremely competitive costs compared to other energy sources, features that can be brought to market in the next 7 years. Not only that, the technology that newcleo is developing will also make it possible to address the problem of energy independence and waste management through the production of MOX, the nuclear fuel that will enable the reuse of depleted uranium and plutonium generated by old reactors within new fast reactors. An innovative solution that would allow countries such as England to continue producing energy from nuclear power for hundreds of years without importing additional uranium from other countries.
