[Video] COP28: Relive the nuclear event at the French Pavilion

On December 11th, the French Pavilion at COP28 organized a major event on nuclear energy. Explore this discussion here, which presented the means to triple global nuclear power by 2050.

For the third consecutive year, the French Pavilion at COP hosted a special event on nuclear energy. This debate, attended by the French Minister of Energy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, took place in a unique context, as nuclear power has never been as prominent at this international gathering. Particularly, on December 2nd, around twenty countries agreed on a common goal to triple global nuclear power by 2050.

The event organized by the French delegation was titled “How Nuclear Energy Can Accelerate the Decarbonization of the Energy Mix”, and aimed to define scenarios for achieving this ambitious tripling goal. A panel of experts gathered, including Valérie Faudon, CEO of Sfen; Michel Berthélemy from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) at the OECD; Yves Desbazeille, Director-General of Nuclear Europe; Wei Huang from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Hervé Maillart from the Strategic Committee for the Nuclear Industry (CSFN); and Myrto Tripathi from Voices of Nuclear.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher emphasized that this ambition to triple nuclear capacity is “an ambitious objective” requiring collaboration with numerous partners. This path is crucial, as carbon neutrality by 2050 depends on this goal, as highlighted by the IAEA and the NEA. Nuclear Europe particularly presented the goal of 150 GW of nuclear power in Europe by 2050, as envisioned by the European Alliance for Nuclear Energy. The CSFN emphasized the key success factors for the French program: funding, local industry, skills, etc. As for Voices of Nuclear, the association underscored the role of civil society in this endeavour. ■