 Well-deserved praise here on the scientific forum so far to Director General Grossi from one of our guests in the panel that we will be coming to shortly. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the closing session of this year's Scientific Forum. We have heard some very compelling arguments for nuclear's role as part of a clean energy mix. And we've also heard a number of speakers telling us why that role needs to increase. We've talked about nuclear in conjunction with renewable sources and how important that is. And we've also talked about what some of the challenges are that countries face as they look to include a larger share for nuclear and how the International Atomic Energy Agency can help them meet those challenges. So in this final closing session we want to hear from the Director General about his thoughts and takeaways and we also will be hearing from a very outstanding range of speakers who are with us today, both live in person and virtually. So I'm just going to briefly introduce them in alphabetical order before we come to Director General Grossi for a few first thoughts for this opening session. So very great pleasure to welcome. I hope we'll see him in just a moment on the big screens. Mr. Bernhard Bigot, he is the Director General of the Itaire organization. It has a unique fusion science and research facility and it represents, there he is, welcome, sir. It represents a key milestone for the future of energy, namely safe, economically, sound, environmentally friendly, and he is with us virtually. It's great to have you with us, Bernhard Bigot, and we will come to you in a little while for a Q&A, for a dialogue. And I'm also very pleased to welcome with us here live in person in the hall is Kirstie Gogan. She's co-founder of Energy for Humanity and also Managing Director at Lucid Catalyst. And as always, it was very important for us to hear the voices of civil society and youth and you represent both of those. So great to have you with us and we look forward to coming back to you shortly as well with our dialogue. And finally, I'm very pleased to welcome also joining us online Fabrizia Pinheiro. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Youth Nuclear Congress and as I said, she too is here to represent civil society and the voices of young people. So great that you can be with us as well, Fabrizia, welcome. And I'd like to just start out by going straight away to the Director General to hear your thoughts about, I know you couldn't be with us for all of your sessions, but I also know that you've got eyes and ears in the room. So perhaps you can just share a few of your key thoughts, then we'll go to our panel to answer a few questions and then come back to you at the close. Thank you very much. Like you say, I've been following with a lot of attention what's been going on here and online. I think the array of views and perspectives has been simply impressive. Some of the inputs left me thinking, really, of some of the issues we have been working on. We are going to be working on after the lights are off and we go back to the work, to the normal work at the agency. I must say that there are a few important takeaways that are emerging quite clearly. But what I would suggest, Linda, is that we keep this for the end. We have this panel now, some of them, like Monsieur Vigo, who is an old friend, distinguished colleagues I've been working with for many, many years. New friends like you and others who are bringing new ideas. So perhaps at the end of that I will share with you some thoughts. So I look forward to be able to squeeze from the panels a little bit more wisdom before I close. But so far I've been very, very encouraged by what I heard. I think we have been putting the right questions and getting some very, very, very interesting answers. So let me not take the time away from the panelists. And then I will perhaps share with you some ideas and maybe some questions if you allow me. Thank you very much. Then let's start right out by posing a few more questions. And I will indeed begin with Bernard Vigo if we can perhaps get him up on our screens. And I introduced you, of course, as a leader in the area of fusion. And fusion does hold the promise of carbon-free, limitless, safe energy. And of course, there have also been advances. Yet I think all experts acknowledge it is going to be a while till we see fusion truly become a real part of the energy mix. But meanwhile, you also have a background in nuclear fission. So let me come to you and ask about your takeaways, your most important messages when it comes to the deployment of nuclear fission power and nuclear innovations that can be useful and employed to really develop and also deploy fusion in the future. So thank you very much for inviting me participating to this forum. Unfortunately, I could not be with you today. But we follow your works, definitely. Definitely also, as you know, fission and fusion has two different technologies, really different, certainly. But they could be very much complementary. And from my point of view, there is a lot to learn from each other. The first maybe I will say with the ETER project is that we have been lucky enough to work with 35 different countries which all agree to start with the same safety standard, which means that they adopt from the very early beginning of the development of this project, which I guess will set the standard for the fusion development in the future, to agree on a common safety standard. And it could bring a lot of value. And I do believe that it will be very good also that fission consider more of largely distributed common standard. Second, even if the conditions are very different, as you know, we will have a plasma, hydrogen plasma, 150 million degrees. OK, we will be with a very low density, the density which we won over 1 million, the density of the atmosphere. We will have a lot of neutron flux, very high energy flux of neutrons. All this makes quite different from the fission. But you have a lot to learn about material, about ETER information and control, about all this robotics issue we have. So I really believe that we have to work together. We, for example, take full advantage now of the qualification of many of the equipment, which are already considered in the fission nuclear power plant. For example, the valve, for example, the actuators, and all these different activities. So I advocate a lot to have a joint working partnership. And indeed, it is precisely the case now in ETER benefiting from all the contribution of the seven members. Thank you very much for that. And you pick up there on several points that, in fact, we have discussed in our preceding sessions of the forum with your mention of automation and artificial intelligence, something we have talked about in a number of sessions, both in terms of smooth integration of different sources in the clean energy mix, but also very much in terms of monitoring and safety. So that point there clearly one that both fusion and fission could have in common, the role of AI. And your second, or the thing that you stressed first, of course, the considerations of safety have been an ongoing topic, not only at this forum, but also at past scientific for not least because of the crucial role of public acceptance. And let me come to Kirstie Gogan on that point, because in fact, nuclear power often still has a bad rap, public opinion, not always favorable, often also misperceptions about nuclear. So what do you think can be done to dispel some of the myths? And how can the IAEA help to do that? And do we take your mic, if you would? Great question. Thank you. And thanks so much for inviting me. It's a real honor to be here. And it's just been a wonderful conference. So congratulations to everybody who's been involved. And I'm really happy to say that many of the recommendations that I'd like to make, I've really seen in action here throughout the wonderful presentations and discussions. So really, I'm very impressed, actually. I would summarize the action that I would recommend that we take in three parts. RIGA, coalition building, and values alignment. So let's take each of those. So in terms of RIGA, of course, our industry is unparalleled in its RIGA when it comes to technical performance, when it comes to quality assurance, when it comes to science and technology. And I think we could do more around being more rigorous in our communications, because there is actually a wealth of science communication research out there that we could learn from and we could apply. And I'm starting to see that being applied. But ultimately, the scale and urgency of climate change demands that we are evidence-based and rigorous in designing our solutions, in designing our future clean energy systems. And therefore, we must also be rigorous in terms of our communication and in terms of our engagement. And I can give you some examples of that. And for example, we know that myth-busting doesn't work. That what happens when you restate a myth to somebody and then rebut it, unless they already agree with you, the only thing that they remember is the myth being repeated back to them. So that's called the boomerang effect. So there's all kinds of very interesting research that we can apply. And for example, constantly talking about safety reinforces the perception that nuclear is incredibly dangerous. So then the second part is around coalition building. This is actually linked because we know the evidence tells us that the fastest and most feasible and actually most cost-effective way to decarbonize our energy systems is through a combination of nuclear and renewables. And we also know that from the evidence, all of the consistent public opinion polling in Europe and in the United States tells us that if you ask people, do you support nuclear energy? You'll get generally around 40%, 45% of people will support it. If you ask people, do you support nuclear and renewables as part of a clean energy mix? That will jump to 80%, 85% support. So the evidence tells us that the combination of nuclear and renewables is popular. The evidence tells us that the combination of nuclear and renewables is the best, fastest, and most cost-effective way to deliver a clean energy system. So let's lead with that. And then finally, values alignment. So in terms of values alignment, and this is linked really to coalition building as well, throughout the 20, 25 years of successfully building public and political support for action on climate change, we haven't yet made a dent on the upward trajectory of emissions. And part of the reason for that is that we've, within the larger climate and energy discourse, put too much emphasis perhaps on a limited set of technologies. And we've really successfully driven down costs and driven up rates of deployment for wind and solar. And now we need to do the same again for other clean energy technologies. And in order to do that, we need to reach out to other successful industries and take that success template not only from the renewable sector, where they've demonstrated how consistent deployment, sustained access to finance, a commitment to cost reduction, moving away from project-based approaches to product-based manufacturing can drive down costs and deliver incredible value. We need to apply that success template into the nuclear sector. But we can also learn from other industries as well. We can learn from shipbuilding. We can learn from other major industrial sectors, including the oil and gas sector, to really enable this technology to make the meaningful contribution that it has the potential for, not just in the power sector, but across heat and transport and industry as well. So I urge you to start implementing these recommendations because it's 2020, 30 years to 2015. And we've been reminded time and again how long the lead times are on nuclear projects. Many of the points that you just made also reminded me of the opening words that we heard from Agneta Riesing in her presentation when she said, you know, if we know something works, we need to do it again and again and again. Take what works, scale it up, standardize it, because that's how we get to scale. Let me now go to Fabrizia Piniero, who's with us online. And again, I said we wanted to hear young voices and interestingly enough, there are many young people who do apparently have support for what is essentially an old technology, namely nuclear. So I want to ask you why that is and what more can be done to inform young people in order to get them on board in terms of expansion of nuclear's mix, nuclear share in the clean energy mix. Thank you, Melinda. And thank you to the IAEA for always giving young generations a voice. I think that calling nuclear an old technology maybe a little bit of a misrepresentation. Yes, it is based on many years of development and innovation, and it probably takes a little bit longer than other industries because of regulatory requirements. However, there are many innovative and exciting technologies that are related to small modular reactors, fusion energy, such as the ETER project that Mr. Pico was discussing, automation for remote operations, radio isotopes, and many more. Many of the young professionals who joined the workforce in the last 15 years, like myself, have not only joined it because of the remarkable scientific and technological advancements within the industry. In fact, I think many of us have joined and remain within the industry because we know that our work has a direct positive impact on the world. I think it's the sense of pride and purpose that keeps us going. It is contagious and inspiring, and it's what organizations like the International Youth Nuclear Congress or IYNC, which I am part of, aim to nurture so that more young people are committed to making it a stronger and better industry. A lot of the key messages that Kirstie just mentioned actually, including the promise of an integrated industry with solutions not only for climate change, but for public health are also extremely powerful, and I think they really resonate with younger generations. Everyone here today plays a vital role in achieving this goal through engaging with mentoring and providing opportunities for the younger generation. So I think there are many different opportunities for us to continue to be involved, and it's organizations like the IAEA that IYNC and Women in Nuclear that can really have an impact in influencing that. Thank you very much, Fabrizia, for sharing those thoughts, and I will now take all of these insights that we've just heard and go back to the Director General and ask for your thoughts on what you've heard and if you like also with specific remarks to the panel. Thank you very much. Well, these ideas, this final, not because they are the last word, it's just in the order of the program. Point to a number of important topics that have been discussed before, and of course the issue of fusion where Ether is emblematic, address some of the approaches we have been trying now. I think my conclusion of the whole effort of this forum is that we are putting the right questions. We are putting the right questions. We are trying in a dispassionate way with, I hope, rigor to see where is it that the bottlenecks exist and what is that we as the international hub for everything nuclear, but also the industry, have to be looking at and how to do it better. I think that throughout the discussions, the, of course, the issue of innovation has come again and again, and what we see is that the industry is not stagnant when it comes to this. It is important to see that we are not simply reproducing a technological format or model that could be working because they are, when you tour the world as I have to and you visit different nuclear power plants and you see them, some of them fantastic machines working very, very efficiently with technologies that date from a few years, you see that the industry has not stayed with the safe in terms of economic value and return, not in terms of nuclear safety and you see this constant evolution. You've been discussing here, Generation 4, I think now SMRs are at the risk of becoming a cliche, but notwithstanding that, I think it is clear that they are a reality there and there is a lot of interest. When we discuss, for example, with countries that are actively interested in nuclear power, the so-called newcomers and even a degree below that, those who are looking with real interest, I mean, we have all these categorization, as you know, with the milestones documents, you see them already themselves wanting, demanding from the industry the SMR because they want nuclear power, they need nuclear power, they are convinced, they are, they know that this is a solution for them and what is interesting is that this is coming from different perspectives. In some cases, it is because they are longing for power as a strategic asset and they want independence and they are dependent and they fear this situation. We don't get into that, but we know that they recognize that this gives you an added value, you can decide what to do with your nuclear energy, you have your nuclear power plants, they are operating there for you and they give you this great ability to scale it up, scale it down, work independently of sometimes political forces that are often, especially for middle-sized and small countries, beyond their ability to influence the great trends of history. So this is very important because it's not something that is there, it's a good to have for some or a way to continue producing nuclear energy in a more efficient way. So here, the demand is there and it's going to be growing quite clearly. I think that when it comes to, so this is a very important area that has been discussed and important aspects have been shown and have been described. The financing issue, also we know it's problematic but it's not impossible. We see in some cases in some parts of the world including in Latin America, for example, where I come from, that regional development banks are starting to look into, for example, I can cite examples of long-term operation of reactors that have been financed through these lines of multilateral credit that until now seemed to be a no-go zone or a restricted area for them. I'm not saying that this is completely solved but it is going to happen. So the innovation is there, the financial debate is one that needs to be of course done but it's changing. Another very important aspect and I think it has also to do with some of the communication challenges that we've had historically is the issue of waste where we also have very fine technological solutions and even examples that we must be showing in a very, I would say, assertive way. I was surprised just a few weeks ago to hear a very important European leader that confronted with a couple of pointed questions about a very drastic decision they had taken in that country with regard to nuclear energy, responded that of course nuclear had merits but of course it was not sustainable because of the waste problem. So one sees ironically, one sees that the argumentative core is shrinking because really we are providing the answers and we need to continue to provide the answers to show that the industry is coming up with the necessary solutions there. Of course for me, from the perspective of this institution, I believe that we have an important role to play in ensuring that the discussion and the societal acceptance which is so sometimes difficult to reach can have a firmer basis to be supported and we can through the normative underpinnings that we provide through safety, through security, we are the ones that can add this unique value there are occasions in which countries, and this is normal, do have different views on certain things and sometimes even discussions about the activities that they are carrying out and that could have transboundary effects. But when the IAEA is involved, the moment we show the blue flag of the IAEA in these projects, some of them quite controversial, regionally speaking, and I don't want to mention concrete cases, but we can think about some of them. Then it is clear that there will be an impartial approach that there will be a scientific contribution that is going to make sure that when there is a problem with safety, there is a problem with how waste in whatever form it can present itself is there. We are going to be there reminding or applying the norms as they should be applied. I think Linda, we are entering an interesting phase. We are facing Glasgow where the agency is going to be present. Hopefully I'm trying to reach out to the industry, to other organizations, and we are going to be there presenting a very united and hopefully eloquent case so that this issue can be treated in the way it should be. We should not expect magic solutions. This is not going to be something that is going to change from one day to the next, but I think we have to be constant and persevere in these efforts through dialogues like this, listening to views like yours and others who are telling us how you see it, and us as well interacting with all the stakeholders, with the companies in country, with countries individually to promote this issue. Why? Simply because it is a good solution. It is a solution that brings energy, that helps development, that takes care of our planet. So all the elements are there, but of course we need to face the debates, to face the challenges and to respond with, like you say, with rigor, with calm, but also with determination. I'm very grateful for the opportunity that this forum has provided us to address these issues, to present to all participants the state of the art in the different areas that you were discussing and I was so impressed with the quality of the people who were talking, looking as I was following your debates on very quite technical debates that you were moderating on some technical solutions and technical problems. So I think this has added something we know more than we did a couple of days ago, a couple of days ago, and we will continue with the same determination. So I'm very happy to have had this opportunity and to continue our work. You know, one thing that certainly strikes me when you think about the path to Glasgow and how important Glasgow will be next year is that what we could really see here at this scientific forum is that certainly this sector nuclear power has come out of the silo because we've been talking again and again about nuclear share in the overall mix. That systemic perspective that's been emphasized here by so many speakers I think is absolutely crucial if we want to try to address the climate crisis in a meaningful way. So maybe just one thought on that score before we wrap it up here. I think it's indispensable. It might not be comfortable because of what you were mentioning and your replies on that. It hasn't been comfortable in the past and still, and still it isn't. But a problem of the dimensions we have in front of us in terms of the post-pandemic recovery, in terms of the damage we are inflicting to our environment are so huge that there is no other way but to continue providing the answers. And I would say confronting all these issues squarely and head on. And I can see a recognition of this. We can see, we certainly see in every paper and even in the general press that the contribution of nuclear is seen as logical. Perhaps they are whispering it. But hopefully if we continue, they will say it a little bit louder. Thank you very much. Wonderful closing words for this scientific forum 2020. Then it only remains for me to say a very, very warm thank you. I'll start with our online audience who've been following us for some very demanding presentations. You've posed great questions. We're so grateful for your attention. Of course, the warmest of thanks also to all of those who made the trip to be with us here live in person in Vienna. It's great to see this room socially distanced and yet still almost a third full or a half. So that's wonderful. And thank you so much for being with us and also for your attention and contributions as well. And of course, as always, the very warmest thanks to the organizational team. This forum with this hybrid format is probably the most difficult thing there is to do in the event business. So we can give them, I think, a very warm round of applause also to all the technical staff, camera, sound, online. Thank you. And Director General, I wish you all the best for the further efforts and thank you very much that we could all be part of the scientific forum 2020. Thank you very much.