Pro-nuclear OECD countries coordinate to address the climate challenge

Tripling the existing fleet, collaborations on research, developing bilateral financing… 20 OECD ministers met in Paris under the auspices of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the French Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, to develop the global nuclear fleet collectively.

Nuclear discussions at the OECD headquarters in Paris marked September 28 and 29. The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the French Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, gathered 20 ministers to work on a “Roadmap for New Nuclear.” The French minister emphasised: “It’s the first time in 13 years that Energy ministers have met in an OECD format to promote nuclear energy,” the French minister assured.

Being one of the only controllable non-fossil energies, “every second nuclear energy operates, thousands of tons of gas and coal are not burned,” the French minister stated at the opening of a press conference at the OECD headquarters in Paris. She added: “We cannot limit global warming to 1.5°C without nuclear. The nuclear fleet needs to be tripled to achieve carbon neutrality.” William D. Magwood, Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), stressed: “A tripling of the nuclear fleet is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.” He also noted the new global nuclear momentum: “Three years ago, it would have been impossible to be here with so many ministers.”

Selon l'AEN, pour atteindre nos objectifs de neutralité carbone, il faudra tripler la puissance #nucléaire en s'appuyant sur les réacteurs existants et sur les réacteurs nouvelle génération.

C'est l'ambition de la conférence internationale que j'organise à l'@OCDE_fr. pic.twitter.com/O1hSsyqllW

— Agnès Pannier-Runacher 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@AgnesRunacher) September 28, 2023

Countries present at this meeting included Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Italy was also present as an observer, without participating in the debate. For Agnès Panier-Runacher, this meeting is a direct follow-up to the European Nuclear Alliance, which brings together fifteen countries committed to deploying nuclear power in Europe.

The key role of financing

In a statement, participants highlighted several topics they must collaborate on to address key challenges collectively. The first highlighted during the discussions was financing. After encouraging development banks to explore opportunities in civilian nuclear energy, it read: “We encourage financial institutions to classify nuclear energy, where appropriate, alongside all other zero or low emission energy sources in international financial taxonomies.” On this note, the European Commission is changing its stance. After long excluding nuclear, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Europe is now open to considering subsidies for nuclear.

Among other points to work on, the final statement mentions the need for common OECD regulation for transport, recycling, or waste management. Moreover, sharing R&D efforts would be crucial to speed up the deployment of SMRs, advanced reactors, and, of course, the ITER fusion project. This meeting of OECD nuclear countries also aims to collaborate to develop the nuclear supply chain and skills, two key challenges, especially since no nuclear project has been undertaken in many already nuclearised countries for years.

Coordination and meeting set for 2024

Signatories of this first “Roadmaps to New Nuclear” call on the NEA “to coordinate with stakeholders in our countries to develop and support a network of business leaders, government officials, researchers, and experts.” The goal is to develop “solutions to help decision-makers maximise the full potential of operating existing reactors, constructing new power reactor projects, and deploying SMRs for electricity generation and industrial applications.”

A progress update is already expected for a second meeting in 2024. Recognising the urgency of this effort, we ask the NEA to proceed immediately and provide a comprehensive progress report to be presented at the second meeting on roadmaps for new nuclear in 2024. ■