Nuclear Power and Secure Energy Transitions
From today’s challenges to tomorrow’s clean energy systems
Nuclear Power and Secure Energy Transitions: From Today’s Challenges to Tomorrow’s
Clean Energy Systems is a new report by the International Energy Agency that looks
at how nuclear energy could help address two major crises – energy and climate – facing
the world today. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the disruptions in global energy
supplies that it has fuelled have made governments rethink their energy security strategies,
putting a stronger focus on developing more diverse and domestically based supplies.
For multiple governments, nuclear energy is among the options for achieving this.
At the same time, many governments have in recent years stepped up their ambitions
and commitments to reach net zero emissions. Nuclear Power and Secure Energy Transitions
expands upon the IEA’s landmark 2021 report, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global
Energy Sector. It does so by exploring in depth nuclear power’s potential role as
a source of low emissions electricity that is available on demand to complement the
leading role of renewables such as wind and solar in the transition to electricity
systems with net zero emissions.
In this context, the report examines the difficulties facing nuclear investment, particularly
in advanced economies, in the areas of cost, performance, safety and waste management.
It considers the additional challenge of meeting net zero targets with less nuclear
power than envisioned in the IEA Net Zero Roadmap, as well as what kind of cost targets
could enable nuclear power to play a larger role in energy transitions. For countries
where nuclear power is considered an acceptable part of the future energy mix, the
new report identifies the potential policy, regulatory and market changes that could
be implemented in order to create new investment opportunities. It also looks at the
role of new technologies, particularly small modular reactors, and their potential
development and deployment.
Available from August 29, 2022