 The future of nuclear energy is here. Nuclear energy is already helping to mitigate climate change and can help further reduce the usage of fossil fuels. Nuclear plants continue to innovate and meet specific needs like heating cities or producing hydrogen to help de-carbonize industry and transport. Elements of the nuclear fuel cycle are being continuously improved from fuel fabrication to waste management. And new technologies are further advancing the nuclear industry. Helping to build a new fleet of nuclear reactors to power our clean energy future. A very good morning to you and a warm welcome to Vienna. To Excellencies, to our distinguished guests, to Director General of course. Those of you here in Vienna in the auditorium and those of you who are following proceedings virtually as well. Welcome to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Scientific Forum for 2023. My name's Hannah Vaughan-Jones and I'm delighted to be your moderator over the next two days. Our topic this year, as you just saw from that film, is Nuclear Innovations for Net Zero. Now innovation of course is the bedrock of human development. Over the last two centuries or so, both humanity and technology have hand in hand brought unimaginable transformation to the world. But of course the cost of that transformation has been pollution and climate change. This forum will be discussing how innovation in nuclear power will provide an alternative to fossil fuel plants and hopefully, hopefully do that at some speed as well. Now following this opening session, the first technical session which will take place after lunch will focus on new reactor concepts that have already been implemented. We'll move on to a session that explores how innovative solutions in the entire nuclear fuel cycle will further the prospects of nuclear power globally. And in the third and the final technical session tomorrow morning, our speakers will showcase how nuclear technology can be used in new applications, contributing of course to a resilient energy system. A little bit of housekeeping from me as well to kick things off. The event is of course being live streamed as I just mentioned, there is a virtual audience here. If you yourself need to leave the room, then you can also watch all the proceedings online as well. You can use it via the app or indeed by the IAEA website. The app is the IAEA conferences app. Anyone who wants to ask a question, you can do so in the room. Please just wave at me and you will get my attention. And if you are watching online as well, then you can use the chat function in order to pose a question. Wolfgang, who is somewhere in the room as well, I can't see him at the moment, but he will be checking all of the questions over there. Waving, Wolfgang will be taking all the questions online and filtering them through to me as well and reading them out. The hashtag to use if you are following proceedings online as well is hashtag scientific forum. And at the end of this session, just a reminder that we will be breaking for lunch. You can head to the cafeteria. I believe you can take an elevator down to the ground floor. We're on the fourth floor and on this floor and on the seventh floor. There are coffee corners as well where you can get snacks and refreshments as well. And now without any further ado, please welcome our host for the Scientific Forum, the IAEA Director-General, Rafael Mariano Grossi. Thank you very much, Hannah. It's good to see you again. Thanks for joining us for this year's Scientific Forum. And it's good to see this room full of interested people following what we do. President Ado, welcome. I just had an opportunity to greet you at the entrance of the VIC, Secretary-General. Honour to have you and ministers from the Republic of Korea, from Sweden, Mr. Secretary-General, François. So many things are being said these days about energy crisis solutions to the problems. And of course, for many, many years, we have been advocating that, of course, nuclear energy had a place at the table as part of the solutions we all need. But of course, from that enunciation to the concrete realisation of that potential in real solutions being applied all over the world, there is a distance. And this year's Scientific Forum, as you just described, talking about the programme and the sessions that we are going to have, is about that. It's about looking into the areas that are either unnecessary, important, or could be keys to some of the problems and the challenges that may be still existing in terms of integrating to its fullest capacity and potential nuclear energy into the set of solutions that we need. We all recognise the reality of global warming and climate change and so much has been said about that. I will not regurgitate it and you know it very well. The issue is that in spite of this and in spite of the rising of the integration of renewable energies in the energy mixes of many countries still fossil fuels are growing. So there is quite a paradox here in the sense that while we have one element that could be considered as virtues, we still see that the dimension of the problem, which is the emissions that we are putting up, the atmosphere continues to be unabated or is not going in the right direction. So what seems to be a solution does not seem to be getting us where we want to be yet. So this is why we need to explore ways by which we could, as we were saying, integrate as it does happen in some countries already now and France and Sweden for example are very good concrete today's examples of this happening where you can have an intelligent combination of energy sources which would lead you faster to a decarbonised matrix. But of course and this I hope will be part of the discussions that we are going to have with this policy makers and experts there are certain things that still must happen. Innovation and I think this is at the heart of some of the discussions that we are going to have are part of that innovations include under this big umbrella notion a number of things that have to do with the improvement in the performance and safety of existing fleets we should not forget that we have close to 450 operating nuclear reactors all over the world whose life is being extended more and more and they are approaching 100 years 60, 70, 80 so what we can see is that innovation is needed in terms of prolonging the life of this life-saving energy efficient CO2 need barriers that are the good old nuclear reactors that we have and I say this because of course there is a lot of and rightly so interest and excitement about the possibility of small and modular reactors which is another element that I'm sure we are going to be listening a lot about in the course of the scientific forum because certainly, certainly small modular reactors hold this promise in particular in developing countries and as you know the IEA is a global family and the IEA wants to make sure true to the statute and the mandate that we have that as President Eisenhower said 70 years ago this is for all that we expand the benefits of nuclear energy to as many countries as possible that are willing to to have it so yes we are going to be looking at that at the moment many possibilities more possibilities than perhaps markets will accommodate so we want to see and to discover together what are the which are the efficient pathways to modularity that is feasible to be integrated in a relatively short period of time because this is what we need in order to correct this very warring trends in terms of global warming that we have these days and we are also going to be looking at aspects that have to do with the waste management which also requires innovation and we have excellent examples in Finland, in Sweden, in France, in Switzerland in many countries that are already now tackling this issue with great efficiency and of course and why not looking at aspects that have to do with the financing of all this it has been a very very steep and upward fight in order to get and we are not there yet of course to get a level playing field when it comes to financing nuclear projects until not so long ago and still in some places you do have written provisions that forbid yes forbid prevent certain international financing institutions from financing nuclear projects because the word nuclear is there so our job here is to elucidate to educate to show as true to its DNA in the case of the IEA with scientific facts and not slogans why this is the case so the scientific forum hopefully is this moment where people converge to see where we are how good we are doing in this regard and including avenues for the future like fusion where we see a lot of hope and in a few days we'll be in London in IEA organized international conference on fusion because fusion is no longer a scientific a purely scientific challenge to be discovered or resolved few days ago I was in Cambridge very impressed when I saw young entrepreneurs putting together a company and telling me with the freshness and the determination of young innovators they said we want to put this in the market within the next decade how about that so the scientific forum of the IEA hopes to be that place where we analyze these opportunities these avenues that we have for a for a better future nuclear has been part of the solution is part of the solution and we believe can give even more this is our hope and this is the place for an open discussion of what is ahead of us so welcome you all to the scientific forum thanks for coming and I hope and I'm sure you will be enjoying and learning from what you hear from this podium this morning and in the afternoon thank you very much Anna thank you Tiji thank you very much and as you mentioned there in your opening speech there we do have with us some very high-level member state representatives which we're thrilled about and so it's my great pleasure then to welcome to the stage our first speaker his excellency Nana Akufuado the president of Ghana mr president madam thank you very much the director general us secretary for energy the korean minister of science and Ghanaian ministers for environment and energy members of the Ghanaian delegation distinguished ladies and gentlemen I have to begin by thanking the director general for the invitation to participate and speak at this year's international atomic energy agency scientific forum which is being held in this vibrant historic city of Vienna nuclear innovations for net zero the theme for the CS scientific forum is most appropriate as the world finds itself in a decisive phase confronted by some of the greatest threats of the 21st century such as climate change and rising demand for clean energy many countries around the world are experiencing the extremely devastating effects of climate change whether the tendon negative impacts on several economies this is especially true for Africa where we're witnessing fast and dynamic developments in many countries on the continent for instance climate change has led to an increase in average weather temperatures rapid expansion of deserts drying up of dams and unpredictable rainfall patterns all of which have a direct impact on agriculture and food security and thereby contributing adversely to the economic development of several countries it is clear that if we do not take rapid action to address climate change and its negative impacts now the cost in the near future will be prohibitive and counterproductive to the socioeconomic gains we make today we need to do this in a manner where economic development is not suppressed but rather climate restoration supports our economic growth i believe there are diverse solutions to combat climate change that will lead to a net zero carbon environment as envisaged in several multilateral treaties and agreements including the paris agreement on climate change and the united nations sustainable development goals in particular goal number 13 current knowledge on nuclear technology for electricity generation when deployed for peaceful purposes can be part of the portfolio of solutions that will help quicken the the quick transition to net zero gana is at the forefront of developing energy infrastructure in africa with some 86 percent of the population having access to electricity with the penetrate the full penetration projected for 2024 i.e. next year in advance of the 2020 2030 sdg target our electrification architecture has been built on a diversified energy mix including gas biofuel and hydropower however a large portion of gardener's energy mix stock comes from fossil fuels we're committed to a clean equitable energy transition that harnesses the full potential of all low carbon sources including nuclear power to transform gana's energy systems we've created an energy transfer position an investment plan that details what is needed to reach our goals nuclear power will play a significant part in this transformation last year i announced the inclusion of nuclear energy in gana's electricity generation mix our energy transition plan envisages this part of our electricity production to be from nuclear energy by 2020 2017 this strong commitment and position are geared towards the provision of clean and affordable electricity to drive our industrialization agenda it is also meant to position gana as a net exporter in the echo us region through the west african power pool we intend to go beyond this project and put innovation at the front and center of our plans having operated a research reactor for 25 years that has trained nuclear engineers and scientists from gana and many other countries we are at a vantage position to build on a long tradition in nuclear research gana together with her international partners is critically analyzing the innovations in small modular reactors the smr's and their potential for rapid deployment for clean and affordable energy we're currently working with industry experts to study the feasibility of deploying this new technology in gana at this event i urge all of us to continue to work together to strengthen the international framework for knowledge sharing technology transfer and mentoring relating to the peaceful applications of nuclear technology especially for the benefit of newcomer countries exploring nuclear power options furthermore i hope the findings of this forum will be well communicated to all member states for them to understand better the enormous benefits of adopting nuclear technologies in transitioning to net zero i do encourage the ieie to find also more avenues to discuss nuclear technology financing solutions that support emerging economies in order to implement the technologies in these economies in addition to financing there should be a paradigm shift regarding how we conceptualize nuclear energy with the focus on the peaceful applications rather than its non-peaceful applications ultimately this forum should be the platform in which identified challenges corresponding international best practices and opportunities are shared concerning nuclear energy as a plausible step in achieving the net zero transition the world needs and thank you for your attention mr president your excellency thank you very much indeed now the us is without doubt a leader in nuclear innovation and on the forefront of new technologies such as smr small modular reactors as well so with that it is my absolute delight then to welcome to the stage her excellency miss jennifer graham home the secretary of energy for the united states of america thank you hannah and uh thank you uh to digi groci mr president appreciated your words to my uh colleagues from france and from korea from sweden and to all of you um thank you for for being here at this scientific forum first let me just reiterate the united states' position that the world's path to decarbonization depends on an embrace of nuclear energy and i just want to share a bit about what we're doing in the united states um we are first uh committed to maintaining our existing fleet of reactors which today provides our single largest source of clean energy in the united states um and we're also committed to maintaining and growing our nuclear workforce which we believe is work world class and it uh creates for us nearly half a million high paying jobs in the united states but um obviously the job's not done at the existing reactors reaching our 2050 net zero goals depends on at least tripling for us our nuclear energy capacity to 300 gigawatts or more so that brings me to my second point which is the united states is ready to embrace the dawn of this new nuclear age as well uh since president biden took office we have invested billions of dollars in the future of nuclear energy creating historic uh tax incentives for investment in new facilities and production of nuclear energy in fact um our our traditional fleet is actually expanding in in late july our vogal unit three connected to the grid it's a traditional ap 1000 but it's the first time that we have actually in the united states expanded large reactors since 1996 that's the first reactor the second one will connect early next year it's two over two gigawatts of power of nuclear power uh that we will be bringing on just in this very short period of time but of course we're also working on building uh the fuel the supply chain for the fuel both low enriched uh uranium and high assay low enriched uranium so we we are working on creating the fuel supply chain in the united states uh this year so cross our fingers that we're able to get there at least the investment in it and we're not just working to support the large light water reactors but also the small modular reactors as was said micro reactors generation four technologies uh you know we the department of energy just issued a report on pathways to commercial liftoff for advanced reactors for those of you who may be interested these advanced reactors are key to reaching our energy goals because they can also obviously help to decarbonize energy intensive industries uh can work with hydrogen production can work with desalination um district heating petroleum refining fertilizer production all of that we are looking at smr's and advanced technologies for that and many of these new reactors as well can adjust their electricity output to match demand so making them smart with our grid that we are increasingly adding technologies to be much more responsive to demand so the benefits of new nuclear uh are vast they extend to our workforce as well so many of the designs that we're developing can be cited on old or retiring coal plants we call these phoenix projects where we can build on the expertise of fossil energy workers and bring them along in this clean energy transition for example in wyoming we've awarded funding for an advanced reactor demonstration at a retiring coal plant in texas we're supporting a high temperature gas reactor at a long operating chemical plant and um you know director general talked about fusion we're very bullish on fusion president biden has a decadal vision of a commercial fusion reactor in 10 years since our laurence livermore national lab achieved fusion ignition in december and has done so again in subsequent months so it is not just a question of whether it is a question of when and so that's very exciting so why all these updates from the home front it's because i think they'll affect all of you too in so far as we want to learn from you for us we want to be able to help uh our in our efforts to get to globally net zero i just met with um yesterday with a whole slew of us nuclear energy industry leaders and they're very hungry to help us bring these advanced technologies to partners around the world and so we've already forged public private partnerships with romania and with poland to expand their civil nuclear projects and that includes refurbishing and completing the chair nevoda reactors and deploying an smr in romania and helping us to stand up poland's civil nuclear program with us reactors and so we're help we're committed to helping more countries do the same help achieve their decarbonization goals with this safe secure and safeguarded deployment of nuclear technology so here's my final message is that the stakes are too high for members of this body to depend upon unreliable partners those with maybe blatant disregard for international norms on nuclear security and nonproliferation or those who use nuclear energy to exert political or economic pressures while some new technologies solve existing nonproliferation and security challenges others raise entirely new ones and that's why the united states is making investments in integrating security and safeguard technologies with nuclear power and fuel cycle advancements embedding security and safeguards by design our nnsa our national nuclear security administration is partnering with our domestic nuclear industry so that facilities that are proposed for export can readily meet international regulatory requirements and we welcome continued conversation with with governments and regulators and the worldwide nuclear industry about strengthening safeguards and security features for nuclear reactors and fuel cycles doubling down on non proliferation doubling down on safety and security is critical as you all know to maintaining public confidence in nuclear technology so this is a moment I actually like to call global co-op petition a combination of cooperation and competition we've all run the numbers we know that the clean energy future presents a massive opportunity for our economies and the pie is big enough a big enough for us all to have a healthy slice so let's combine our scientific expertise let's help more countries look at nuclear energy as a sustainable long-term investment and let's uh let's make real that great dream that president eisenhower shared 70 years ago harnessing the awesome power of the atom for a new era of peace and prosperity in this what is potentially the greatest peace project of our time a net zero world thank you secretary granham thank you very much indeed and now the republic of career is among the world's most prominent nuclear energy countries and a major exporter of its technology so please welcome his excellency minister of science and information and communication technology for the republic of korea and mr lee jong ho minister yeah good morning ladies and gentlemen director general rafael mariano grossi and the distinguished delegate of our member stage it's my great pleasure to join this iaea scientific forum on behalf of the korean government the global risk is reported by the world economic forum underscored that among the 10 major risks we face in the coming decade the top four are linked to the climate crisis in fact natural disasters caused by the climate crisis are posing threats to human lives and the safety across the global as we are well aware the only way to tackle the climate crisis is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions this kid too achieving these uh lies in having a balanced energy mix that includes nuclear renewable energy as a carbon free sources however it takes time to commercialize renewable energy leading many nations to consider nuclear power as a viable option to meet their future energy needs that is why we are here today at this scientific forum i look forward to hearing about various in innovative nuclear technologies and the solutions for net zero from many countries i hope this forum will serve as a catalyst for expanding the role of nuclear energy distinguished delegate the korean government is directing its national capabilities toward enhancing technological innovations to position nuclear energy not just as a primary primary source of electricity but also as a key player in achieving net zero since 2008 korean has been actively implementing the future nuclear power system development plan with a specific focus on developing gen four reactors this dedicated focus on advanced reactor development has resulted in the development of small reactors in 2012 korea demonstrated its capabilities by obtaining standard design approval for smart korea's first ever small modular reactor and now we are developing an even more advanced and innovative smal based on smart technology the korean government believes that the private sector should take the lead in the in technological innovations this is especially true for the smal sector which aims to replace fossil fuels in such industries as a seawater desalination and the space explanation korea has become an advanced country in nuclear field through r&d and industrialization centered on the public sector including government funded research institute and the public corporations the role of the private sector is still limited to equipment manufacturing and the construction fortunately the growing interest in smals to achieve net zero emissions has led to many korean companies investing in smal technology to further support this momentum the government is launching the korea smal initiative to assist private enterprises create a on smal technology innovation ecosystem the essence of this initiative is is a government's commitment to transfer its accumulated smal technology to private enterprises and to jointly develop some challenging technologies that are obstacles to demonstration and commercialization with the private sector accordingly korea plans to transfer the core technologies of gen 4 reactors such as vhtl and the sfl which have reached the demonstration level to companies keen on commercialization at the same time we will promote public and private partnerships in areas that need additional research and development as the first pilot project to kickstart these efforts starting next year the government will collaborate with the relevant companies to invest in developing high temperature gas reactors designed for industrial process heat with applications such as hydrogen production and other uses this year we have also kicked off the development of msl aimed at reaching carbon emissions in marine propulsion and the floating nuclear power plants additionally we have initiated the development of an innovative light water smal known as ismr mainly focusing on replacing thermal power generation numerous domestic companies have participated in these projects from the beginning to secure core technology and are expected to take the lead in driving korea's future smal innovation distinguished delegates global challenges such as climate change cannot be solved by one country alone international cooperation and collective action are becoming increasingly vital and that's precisely why we are gathered here today we call off an all-member stage under the leadership of the ia ea to take a more active and proactive stance in promoting the role of nuclear energy the government of the republic of korea strongly sports the ia ea's statement natural needs nuclear power said to be presented at c o p 28 this november and is committed to working closely with the ia ea to ensure that their efforts are successful these things the delegates on the sidelines of this general conference korea's exhibition boost features a 3d model of a net zero city simulation this model demonstrates a city achieving energy self-speiciency without carbon emissions by harmonizing innovative smal currently under development in korea with the new overs such as a solar and wind power i invite everyone here to visit and explore the exhibition first stand thank you very much minister lee thank you very much indeed now among the countries that have voiced a strong interest in developing nuclear power is morocco uh her excellency miss leila banale is going to join us next via video message um minister banale is the minister of energy transition and sustainable development for the kingdom of morocco and here's her video message distinguished panelists mr grozzi director general of the ia ea your excellency akufu ado president of gana your excellency mrs granholm secretary of energy of the united states your excellency mr john ho minister of science and ict of korea and your excellency mr westland vice minister for climate and the environment of sweden and your excellency mr france wajak uh general administrator of the french atomic energy commission of french ladies and gentlemen good morning it's really an absolute honor to address you today as we convene for the opening of this scientific forum and the theme that unites today holds a very important significance in this era of energy transition we want to look at nuclear innovations for net zero and this question realized at the very heart of our relentless pursuit of sustainable solutions to combat climate change distinguish panelists ladies and gentlemen the government of the kingdom of morocco attaches paramount importance to the energy transition that is the main driver of economic development and social progress and since 2009 morocco committed to a low carbon energy strategy with four strategic orientations we want to diversify our electricity mix we want to develop our national energy resources particularly renewables we want energy efficiency and we want to integrate regional energy markets including carbon markets furthermore his majesty king mohammed sixth may god assist him provided a strong impetus to increase the share of renewable energies installed electricity capacity to at least 52 percent before 2030 we have four gigawatts of renewable sources contributing to the accumulation of local expertise and increasing interest of international companies in the national energy model today renewable energy represents 40 percent of the total installed capacity and we achieve the rural electrification rate of more than 99 more 86 percent but this accomplishment still for short of the ambitious goals that we set for ourselves and for decarbonizing our economy our new development model of 2021 emphasizes robust independent and transparent regulation and the widespread availability of low carbon energy at competitive prices that's a real competitive shock for the economy and society through an approach the kingdom of morocco has strengthened its international cooperation standing and through an open approach the kingdom of morocco has progressively developed its nuclear and legislative in institutional frameworks we established the Knesset and our national center for nuclear energy sciences and techniques in 1986 and we followed by the two megawatt trigger mark two type research reactor in 2003 our nuclear regulatory framework is built on one law the law 142 12 in 2014 centered on nuclear and radiological safety and security and we created amsnore our independent agency for nuclear safety it is entrusted with the oversight of compliance with nuclear and radiological safety and security standards across activities and facilities utilizing ionizing radiation sources ladies and gentlemen it should not come as no surprise that provided that technological supply security and competitiveness conditions are fully met morocco would actively explore the nuclear option through various working groups established for this purpose and this efforts primarily center on enhancing the country's nuclear infrastructure development following the methodology recommended by the IAA all the studies and evaluation of national capabilities conducted under the auspices of the IAA have enabled morocco to build a strong knowledge base a significant international recognition and a real established established credibility distinguished panelists and ladies and gentlemen the fight against climate change and the delay in achieving our sdgs demand bold solutions and nuclear innovations emerge as an essential component advances in this field whether it's four generation reactors nuclear fusion small modular reactors like smr's hold significant promise so by combining nuclear power with intermittent renewable energy sources smartly we can ensure a reliable energy supply that's why morocco places a distinct focus on smart modular reactors due to their numerous advantages including their flexibility for integration into medium-sized electricity grids they hold significant promise for diverse applications such as combined heat and power generation and seawater desalination that's why morocco actively supports the IAA nuclear harmonization and standardization initiative which aims to facilitate the secure and responsible deployment of smr's ladies and gentlemen nuclear technologies can reach their full potential only when we have a pool of highly skilled professionals and substantial investments in education training and research to equip our younger generations with the necessary expertise to spare head this energy transition by supporting human capabilities in africa and beyond we can ensure that no one is left behind in this crucial transition toward the greener safer and more sustainable future for all i am delighted to announce that morocco through kness 10 has recently achieved recognition from the IAA as an international center based on research reactors this achievement is a first for africa positioning kness 10 alongside seven other ic er centers worldwide including belgium france the russian federation the republic of korea romania and two centers of the united states and the success on the scores morocco's commitment to nuclear excellence and paves the way for future collaborations and i hope that similar centers will emerge in africa as this represents an exceptional opportunity for the entire continent morocco's national infrastructure that is now reinforced by this recognition is open for the benefit of the african continent with the focus on capacity building this approach reflects our strong commitment to regional cooperation in alignment with the vision of his majesty the king mohammed 6 may god assist him ladies and gentlemen in conclusion nuclear innovation proves to be a crucial element of our path towards a net zero emissions future it is really essential for the continuation of human life on earth thank you very much and our thanks of course to morocco and to minister banali for sending that that video through to us now um sweden has been operating nuclear power plants for for many years now and has recently received significant praise for the development of an innovative concept for spent fuel disposal so with that our next speaker is uh sweden's vice minister for climate and the environment his excellency mr daniel vesselin thank you your excellencies ladies gentlemen colleagues i would like to thank director general grossi and the iaa for the invitation to provide remarks at this scientific forum and providing us all with the opportunity to meet here today to explore the potential for nuclear energy in the fight against climate change climate change is an unprecedented challenge to the world we have to plant trees restore wetlands replace gases with high warming potential and reduce emissions in agriculture but unless we fix the fossil emissions from the energy and transport sectors there is no chance that uh of stabilizing the rising temperature i claim that there are three sources of energy that might be deployed on a on a scale large enough to replace the fossil fuels these are solar pv wind energy and nuclear energy hydro biomass geothermal tidal and the others will give us valuable contributions in some places they may even dominate at least in the electricity mix but they're all limited for different reasons on a global scale it is solar wind and nuclear that will have to replace the fossil fuels of these only nuclear is dispatchable this gives nuclear energy a unique role in the fight against climate change colleagues before i came here i went to see dr hans blitz the former director of general of the iaa we had a long discussion on the agency and on nuclear power in general then he said something that stayed with me he said that humanity has been very fortunate we got access to nuclear energy at precisely the point in history when the emissions from fossil fuels became a problem dr blitz is right if nuclear energy would have been developed just somewhat later it would have been very hard for us to solve climate change i'm convinced that weather dependent energy from solar wind and other sources will play a very important role ahead probably solar and wind will provide us with the vast majority of the energy we need once the fossil fuels are gone however i seriously doubt that we will see energy systems without a large portion of dispatchable capacity especially this is the case for electricity being so difficult to store in sweden we have spent the past 40 years trying to expand different forms of renewable energy it has been successful wind power has grown to provide a significant share of our electricity biomass has replaced oil and coal in district heating and industrial processes what was forgotten though along the way was that the power system is very sensitive and that it has to work technically it's not not just about adding terrible hours you also have to obey kershov's laws it is increasingly obvious to broad grow groups in my country and elsewhere that energy systems have to be designed starting from people's needs after all assuring access to affordable energy when and where people need it is the point of having an energy system in the first place i claim that this requires dispatchable energy the requirement that our energy needs have to be met without carbon emission limits the number of options when we look at what we are left with an ad that we have to roll out this dispatchable energy on a global scale nuclear energy is the only option available we are lucky that it was invented in time colleagues the international energy agency has highlighted scenarios for reaching net zero emissions globally around 2050 similarly the ipcc one and a half degree report presented a range of scenarios that would keep temperature increased within one and a half degrees these scenarios typically foresee a doubling or even a tripling of nuclear energy to 2050 can that be achieved can the world build 20 or even 40 gigawatts of nuclear energy per year i would claim it is possible we've done it before around 1980 we had more than 180 reactors under construction globally we did add more than 30 gigawatts in one single year this was achieved by a much less developed world than the one we live in today in sweden we deployed 12 large reactors in between 1972 and 1985 for a decade we had one reactor under construction per one million inhabitants translating this to a global scale really gives you a perspective colleagues nuclear energy has significant potential in reaching global net zero greenhouse gas emissions and to increase energy security by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels we need to keep developing reactors and their components we also need for a forward-looking perspective on the fuel cycle even though long-term spent fuel management has now been solved we need to keep working on closing the fuel cycle with many more reactors we will need to make better use of the spent fuel than to put it in geological storage we're not in a hurry but recycling advanced fuel manufacturing and fast reactors have to be available when they will be needed most importantly the knowledge we have on these technologies may not be lost the work needs to continue colleagues electricity and heat in sweden is almost free of fossil fuels this is thanks to electricity production from mainly hydropower nuclear power and wind power as well as heat from biofuel based district heating and heat pumps fossil fuels remain mainly in the transport and industrial sectors which each account for around a third of the swedish greenhouse emissions our emissions are around five tons per capita per year from having had an almost constant need for electricity for about 30 years we now foresee that the electrification of industry and transport will at least double our electricity consumption in the coming 20 years this transition is driven by the EU's climate policy and sweden's long-term goal to be climate neutral in 2045 another driver has been russia's invasion of Ukraine this has raised the awareness and of the importance of energy security and the security of supply dear colleagues i claim that climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced it concerns all of us and we all need to work together to fix it fortunately though we are in possession of the tools that we will need to solve this thank you so much minister thank you very much indeed now with france we have the country with the world's highest share of nuclear power in its electricity production so please do join me in welcoming his excellency the general administrator of the french atomic energy commission monsieur françois jack thank you uh general gocy cher afael uh distinguished guests your excellencies that's uh no pleasure to be here today to take part to this scientific forum as usual scientific forum of a is a cornerstone of uh the general conference and uh this year as ever i think the time is well chosen and timely we need innovation obviously i do not have to remind you of the long history of friends with nuclear energy obviously that's an 80 year old history but this was uh i would say further reinvigorated by president macron who decided to launch new power plants six new epr but also a program dedicated to nuclear innovation with small and advanced modular reactors so why do we need innovation i think we are faced with a conundrum we need energy which is at the same time cheap affordable and sustainable and that's not so easy to solve this conundrum so that's just why we need innovation and i must say also that innovation will be probably a tool to attract the young generation to nuclear energy which is also usually needed because we have to replace the current generation and to to attract the new ones uh many things were said about nuclear energy during the previous intervention so i will limit myself to a few remarks the first one is probably that uh when you speak of nuclear energy that's not only a matter of electricity that's also a matter of for instance of of heat uh of steam and so on that's another field of innovation that is to think the new uses we may imagine for uh nuclear energy combining nuclear energy with other forms of usage be it in energy between in other industrial forms so i think that is certainly a field of innovation my second point would be that we need an integrated research and innovation policy we shouldn't oppose the various former energy they should work together that is nuclear energy renewable energy if we want to combine them in new forms of grid clearly it also requires innovation so an integrated approach is needed and i think this integrated approach should tackle the various former need we have be the fuels be the reactors be the cycle but also the various time frame we need to work for today and today that is the extension of the life duration of the current fleet but we have also have to work for let's say the end of the century with a close end cycle for the fuels and certainly advanced reactors with generation four or even beyond with molten salt reactor or whatever so innovation should be comprehensive my fourth point would be that we certainly also have to take stock of all the progress we made in the scientific field many things were done in let's say 60s and 70s and dropped in terms of nuclear reactors and so on and now that we have artificial intelligence that we have high preference computing that we have all the tools to explore the matters i think we have new tools to revisit all the concepts and i think innovation will also goes will also go hand in hand with revisiting the concept and mobilizing in a course sectorial approach all the resources we have in the field of science and technology and i think that that will be key and my let's say my final remark will be that we will also have to innovate in the field of cooperation and partnership we have to invent new forms of cooperation we have to then to invent new forms of research and technology organization i'm belonging to cea cea is a research and technology organization making science technology markets industry companies cooperate together in one single place and i think we have to invent such kind of place if we want to produce the innovation in the nuclear for the future we have to take stock of the heritage of the legacy but we have also to promote new approaches finally i want really to thank director general grossi for this opportunity and the forum because putting on the agenda this theme of innovation and nuclear i think he shows that nuclear is not only a solution for energy now but is also opening vast avenues for progress for the future and and hence i think the agency lives up to the expectation of today but also to the heritage of the atoms for peace it was created for so thank you very much thank you very much and now ladies and gentlemen we've heard from from ministers and high-level policymakers now and now it's time for our keynote speaker is a belly becky and is a belly is known for her viral tiktok videos which i think she's probably going to show you a little bit of in her presentation and born in brazil and in the wake of the 2019 amazon rainforest wildfires and the australian bushfire season as well is a belly began using your social media platforms to advocate for nuclear power as a solution to climate change so today i believe you're going to tell us how through your your persona of isotope and you tap into social media trends so very effectively to bring nuclear energy to a whole new audience so delighted to have you here is a belly thank you so much can you hear me your excellencies ladies and gentlemen it's truly an honor to be here hearing from all these amazing leaders in in the world championing nuclear power it's very inspiring to me so in the next few minutes i'm going to talk to you about my favorite source of clean energy but i'm also going to talk to you about courage and my hope is that when you live today you have a lot more of that both clean energy but specifically courage i'm isabelle femeky and i'm best known as my online persona isotope now as far as i'm concerned isotope is the world's first nuclear energy influencer and this is what being a nuclear energy influencer looks like hey guys so a lot of you have been asking about my diet except my day by drinking pure black coffee then i usually work out for about an hour or so after working out i eat something a little bit unusual gummy bears roughly the size of the uranium pellets uranium pellets are the few used in nuclear power plants and just like gummy bears they're super dense which just means they're small but have a lot of energy inside one uranium pellet roughly the size of a gummy bear okay you get it by now has as much energy as 149 gallons of oil 2 000 pounds of coal or 12 000 big max with one of these tiny little things we can power a house for about two and a half months that's unless you're being a total idiot living all your lights on while binge watching netflix bull drying your hair and using a blender this means that we can create an insane amount of energy in smaller spaces which requires less land which is great news for the environment it also means that the waste it creates is tiny if i were to get all of my life's energy from nuclear my waste would fit inside of a soda can you you you you don't ever drink soda sugars like really bad for you i'm glad i'm glad this is a forum about innovation because this is innovation in nuclear communication i guess and and this is how i got started so back in 2019 i innocently opened twitter to see the news and i saw this horrifying photos of wildfires in california and later in that year more wildfires this time in australia and in the amazon in my home country of brazil so those photos were a clear sign to me that climate change is here you know there it's not a problem for the future anymore it's here now now most people in the situation just throw their hands up in the air and they say you know there's nothing i can do but i maybe naively was convinced that i could play a small part in helping address the climate crisis and as i looked at the potential solutions it very quickly became clear that there is no future at least not one worth having without nuclear energy you know it's clear by now and we we've heard of all these amazing speakers that we're not going to be able to decarbonize and provide clean abundant energy for all not just the few privileged folks in developed countries without nuclear energy but there was a small problem people seemed to hate it and to be honest before i learned about it i was also afraid of nuclear power that's what everybody said right nuclear power is bad but why was everyone so anti-nuclear i mean after our nuclear fission is you know one of only two technologies that has track record of decarbonizing grids at scale and it's one of the safest ways to make electricity so again why was everyone so anti-nuclear well oddly enough in part because of pop culture the china syndrome which was a hollywood movie about a nuclear reactor meltdown premiered 12 days before the three-mile island accident in the united states so imagine how that affected public perception we had the no nukes concerts in the late 70s where 200 000 people gathered to listen to some of the most iconic musicians at the time they cry both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy as if they were the same thing and of course we had the simpsons so i thought to myself if pop culture is in part to blame for this warped view of the technology what if i use pop culture to set the record straight and just relay the facts about this technology so i decided to create an entirely different way to communicate that nuclear fission is one of the safest the most reliable and objectively the coolest way to make electricity and that's when iso dope was born that video i showed you earlier was seen by almost a million people across social media platforms all around the world and my content went so viral that i was invited to give a ted talk here's a clip from it what if this technology offers our best hope for the future a future where wars aren't funded by our addiction to fossil fuels a future where energy is clean a future where electricity finally makes its way to the 700 million people on earth who still don't have access to it the idea that nuclear power is bad is costing us that future and it's time to let go of it altogether my videos have been seen millions of times and you know has it has led to among other things being interviewed by oliver stone for his documentary on nuclear power and signing a book deal as well and all it took was some curiosity a fresh approach to social media and a lot of courage so let's talk about social media for a second i imagine if i ask everyone here to show your hands you know raise your hands if you use social media every day most of you if not all of you would raise even if you have a fake account that you access um and you know i know that social media can sound superficial but the reality is that's how young people learn about the world they and they trust influencers opinions on products health tips and ideas themselves and while we've seen social media being used for bad i believe we can leverage these tools and actually use it for good my videos might seem a little unusual but i promise they work just look at this graph the green line represents the support the percentage of people in america who support nuclear energy for electricity look at that sharp increase in 2020 coincidentally the year i started making videos now i'm not saying it's all because of me but i am just saying on a more serious note on a more serious note i've witnessed countless interactions at this point of people on social media raising genuine concerns about nuclear power and then after some back and forth with another user they say they were misinformed and they're now open to it and most gratifyingly i've received several messages like this this is a friend of mine telling me that his sister is now working at a nuclear energy company because of my efforts very gratifying and i think we all here know that we need nuclear energy and people need to understand the truth about it one of the most bizarre things i've witnessed in my journey as a nuclear advocate has been how many leaders secretly behind closed doors will say you know i support i support it but i would never say publicly because i'm afraid of the backlash and i imagine many of you here in this room have heard that before or yourselves have experienced it so if that's the case i'm here to tell you this is not the 1970s anymore young people are very much open to it and they're waiting to hear from people like yourselves that it's okay to support this technology so getting the population informed on all the benefits grants license to our leaders to to pursue realistic decarbonization paths paths that very boldly include nuclear power at the heart of it but what can you do well the first step is recognizing and acknowledging that young people need to be at the center of this conversation and decision-making after all we and our kids have a bigger stake in the future but most young people don't have the time or the knowledge necessary to lead to read the long academic papers so it's also important to identify the young voices who are doing the hard work of translating all of that important information into a language that's accessible effective and inclusive people like Kayleigh Cunningham who's a nuclear engineering student and makes tiktoks about about nuclear power she has over a hundred thousand followers or like DJ Lee clear who's a radiation health physicist and also makes videos about how radiation impacts or doesn't the human body his videos have been seen by millions of people at this point so whenever you come across young people doing innovative communication work don't dismiss them go the opposite direction treat them with respect help elevate their voices and help make connections both political and academics okay they can improve their work as well so in 2021 i wanted to move my efforts from social media into the real world so i created a grassroots effort to save diablo canyon california's last nuclear power plant this one power plant alone prevents 7.2 million metric tons of co2 from entering the atmosphere every single year and we knew that if it was shut down it was going to be fully replaced by fossil fuels when i told people i wanted to save the plant needless to say i was met with a lot of skepticism most left me off some said there was no way i could affect change but i didn't listen to them and i kept going and because i had a good social media follower following i was able to organize a rally to urge the governor of california to delay the closure of the plant it was the largest pro nuclear rally in the united states history low and behold what was considered impossible by many was achieved in part by a young woman with a bold idea diablo canyon will now stay online for at least another seven years i'm hoping 20 but guaranteed seven but this is a clear example where if you give young people the right tools we can get stuff done i'm just gonna be honest here i'm i'm tired i'm tired i guess everybody is but i'm tired of opening the news and seeing a new wildfire every single week i'm tired of reading about our oceans reaching high record temperatures our oceans you know i've noticed people people used to start their day by looking at the weather forecast to know if they need a jacket to go outside but now in many places of the world we have to look at the air quality index to know if it's safe to breathe outside in my own life i notice i have air filters in every room of my house but that's not normal and we cannot allow this to be the new normal and it's not like we don't know how to solve this issue you know we have all the technology we already know nuclear safe we already know nuclear is clean we already know it can decarbonize grids at scale we already know it's going to create millions of jobs so if everyone in this room knows these things what we need from you now is to listen to the young voices who are waking up it's to have the courage to not tiptoe around this issue confronted head on and declare boldly the world needs more nuclear energy i have just one question for you are you leaders or are you followers because to be a leader is to lead people into a better future with courage i need you to move beyond the conferences and the spreadsheets and the chit chat there's no more time for that we need to make things happen so we can have a liveable planet and the only way we can have a liveable planet is if all of you here step up and lead the change into a nuclear energy future thank you wow goodness me i can't think of a more eloquent or elaborate or empowering kind of way of finishing off this opening session for the scientific forum this year huge thank you to isabelle who is tired for all the reasons you just said but also hugely jet lagged as i'm sure is probably shared by many of the other people in the room as well so thank you so much for that fantastic presentation and may i ask that everyone please just stays in their seats while we say goodbye to some of our distinguished guests and but that does conclude the opening session thank you so much to director general and also to our esteemed speakers for this opening session and i think probably on their way out now please join me in thanking his excellency the president of garner the sum of our esteemed guests thank you