2024-01-11 10:30:13
On December 2, 2023, during COP28, around twenty countries including France called for tripling nuclear energy production by 2050, with the aim of escaping our dependence on fossil fuels. A call which resulted in the inclusion of nuclear power as a decarbonization solution in the text of the final COP agreement. In addition to marking the end of a taboo, this official recognition comes in a context of global revival of atomic energy, while the IAEA predicts at least a doubling of installed nuclear capacity by 2050.
“We know from science, the reality of facts and evidence that we cannot achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 without nuclear power”. These are the words of John Kerry, Joe Biden’s special envoy during COP28. If several European countries, such as Sweden or France, also rely on nuclear power to decarbonize, strong signals of nuclear revival are also sent from the China, India, Japan, the South Korea or even Canada.
An international context favorable to the development of the nuclear sector
This call for the development of nuclear power was not launched by chance during COP28. On the one hand, we cannot deny the symbolic significance of making such an announcement in a country which remains on 7e largest oil producer, but which increasingly focusing on nuclear power to support its growth.
Indeed, the country’s history with the atom is recent, since it started in 2009, with the signing of a contract for four reactors with the South Korean consortium Korea Electric Power Company, which resulted in the implementation the first reactor in the Arab world in service in 2021.
On the other hand, the fact of mentioning for the first time the contribution of nuclear power to the fight once morest global warming in the text of a COP has an undeniable historical character, which represents for France and the United States a diplomatic victory which they welcome.
But beyond the nuclear recognitionwhich is no longer a taboo subject, this agreement takes place in a more global context of development of the nuclear sector worldwide.
Soon a first world summit on nuclear energy
In March 2024, the first ever international nuclear energy summit will take place in Brussels. This event organized by the IAEA and Belgium will bring together around thirty countries, industrial leaders in the sector as well as experts, representatives of think tanks and members of civil society.
This summit on nuclear energy will address many high-level themes :
- scientific debates regarding reactor technologies, hybrid nuclear+ENR systems, the life cycle of installations, etc. ;
- a political debate on the obstacles to the rapid deployment of nuclear technologies and the solutions identified to overcome them ;
- a debate around the challenges: fuel supply, dismantling of power plants, security, etc.
The IAEA’s Atom4NetZero initiative
For the IAEA, the summit will also be an opportunity to present the initiative Atom4NetZerowhose aim is “to exploit the potential of nuclear power for a clean energy future”. This initiative will notably provide “technical expertise and scientific data on the potential of nuclear power to decarbonize electricity production as well as difficult sectors such as industry and transport. »
All these signals indicate the end of the traditional opposition between nuclear energy and renewable energies, a necessity to meet the energy challenges of the future.
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