Leaders commit to 'unlock potential' of nuclear energy at landmark summit

21 March 2024

Leaders and representatives from 32 countries at the Nuclear Energy Summit backed measures in areas such as financing, technological innovation, regulatory cooperation and workforce training to enable the expansion of nuclear capacity to tackle climate change and boost energy security.

The summit photo had Brussels' Atomium as its backdrop (Image: Klaus Iohannis/X)

The summit of nuclear-backing countries was jointly organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Belgium, where it was held. In his opening remarks, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi noted that it had taken 70 years since US President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace United Nations speech for the first nuclear energy summit at the level of national leaders to be held.

He said that with the need for clean energy, "this is a global effort, the world needs us to get our act together" and ensure that international financial institutions can finance nuclear and increase nuclear energy capacity "in a safe, secure and non-proliferation way". He said "COP28 made it clear: to be pro-environment is to be pro-nuclear" and the summit "shows the nuclear taboo is over, starting a new chapter for nuclear commitment".

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander de Croo noted his country's change of policy - from closing nuclear plants to extending operation - and said it was increasingly recognised that nuclear had to be part of the mix, with renewables, if the net-zero goals were going to be met.

In a series of speeches from the leaders attending, the need for energy security and carbon-free energy was frequently referenced, with International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol saying that "without the support of nuclear power, we have no chance to reach our climate targets on time".

Extracts from the summit declaration

"We, the leaders of countries operating nuclear power plants, or expanding or embarking on or exploring the option of nuclear power ... reaffirm our strong commitment to nuclear energy as a key component of our global strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both power and industrial sectors, ensure energy security, enhance energy resilience, and promote long-term sustainable development and clean energy transition.

"We are determined to do our utmost to fulfil this commitment through our active and direct engagement, in particular by enhancing cooperation with countries that opt to develop civil nuclear capacities in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a nationally determined manner, including for transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net-zero by mid-21st century in keeping with the science, as outlined in the First Global Stocktake of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference."

The declaration adds: "We commit to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy by taking measures such as enabling conditions to support and competitively finance the lifetime extension of existing nuclear reactors, the construction of new nuclear power plants and the early deployment of advanced reactors, including small modular reactors, worldwide while maintaining the highest levels of safety and security, in accordance with respective national regulations and circumstances. In this drive for more clean energy and innovation, we commit to support all countries, especially emerging nuclear ones, in their capacities and efforts to add nuclear energy to their energy mixes consistent with their different national needs, priorities, pathways, and approaches and create a more open, fair, balanced and inclusive environment for their development of nuclear energy, including its non-electrical applications, and to continue effectively implementing safeguards, consistent with Member States’ national legislation and respective international obligations.

"We are committed to continuing our drive for technological innovation, further improving the operational performance, safety and economics of nuclear power plants, enhancing the resilience and security of global nuclear energy industrial and supply chains. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring safe, secure and sustainable spent nuclear fuel management, radioactive waste management and disposal, in particular deep geological disposal, and decommissioning, including decommissioning by design. We call for an intensified collective effort on ensuring the security of energy supply and resilience of individual, regional, and multinational clean energy resources.

"We are committed to creating a fair and open global market environment for nuclear power development to promote exchanges and cooperation among countries. We encourage nuclear regulators to enhance cooperation to enable timely deployment of advanced reactors, including small modular reactors. We emphasise the value of coordinated cooperation in nuclear fuel supply, nuclear power equipment manufacturing and resource security to ensure the stability of the nuclear energy industrial and supply chains."

"We support enhancing efforts to facilitate mobilisation of public investments, where appropriate, and private investments towards additional nuclear power projects. We emphasise that concrete measures in support of nuclear energy may include, as appropriate, tools such as direct public financing, guarantees to debt and equity providers, schemes to share revenue and pricing risks. We call for greater inclusion of nuclear energy in the Environmental, Social, and Governance policies in the international financial system ... we invite multinational development banks, international financial institutions and regional bodies that have the mandate to do so to consider strengthening their support for financing nuclear energy projects and to support the establishment of a financial level playing field for all zero emission sources of energy generation."

"To ensure the future availability of skilled nuclear sector professionals, we need to contribute further to nuclear education and research, and we consider of the utmost importance to train and retain a large and motivated workforce. Investment in skills, including re-skilling, through education and research is critical for the sector through the whole value chain."

What leaders said

The leaders and representatives of the countries attending the summit each gave short speeches. Here are some of the messages those attending heard.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, noted there were different views on nuclear within the European Union, and said the future was not assured for nuclear, citing a falling share of electricity generation in the EU since the 1990s. But she said it should play a crucial role given the urgency of tackling the climate challenge. She added that, assuming safety was assured, countries thinking of closing their existing nuclear power plants rather than extending their lifetimes should "consider their options carefully before foregoing a readily available source of low-emission electricity". She also urged innovation, noting a global "race" involving countries and companies backing small modular reactors, saying "let's go for it".

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said the country was determined to develop its nuclear energy programme with both large scale and small modular reactors and to become a regional leader, while Bulgaria's Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov noted his country's 50 years of experience in nuclear energy and said investment in new nuclear was a cornerstone for its future plans.

Serbia's President  Aleksandar Vučić congratulated the organisers for holding a summit which was "much more important than many meetings and gatherings bureaucratically organised just to see each other and not to do things". He said his country wanted to build three or four small modular reactors and would like to get the know-how to do so and also have support for finding a way to finance them - "as much help as possible".

The Chinese President's Special Envoy Vice Premier Zhong Guoqing, said China had 55 nuclear energy units in operation with 36 under construction and was assisting many other countries, all contributing to tackling global climate change. He said that it was a global issue, and said it was crucial to double down on safety and security and also "to oppose politicisation of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy".

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said nuclear energy was crucial to achieve the net-zero goal and called for new nuclear financing to come from the European Investment Bank and other similar organisations, while Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala noted the benefits of long-term operation of existing plants for energy security, costs and climate targets and said "international cooperation will bring all of us bigger benefits".

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said nuclear was the only way of generating electricity which was cheap, safe, sustainable and reliable. His country has continued with its plans for the Russian-built Paks II nuclear power plant project and noted that companies from a number of countries in Europe, and the USA, were involved in the project. He said it was in everyone's interests to "prevent nuclear energy" becoming a "hostage of geopolitical hypocrisy and ideological debate".

FInland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said his country's next steps for nuclear included district heating, hydrogen production and a deep geological disposal site for radioactive waste, while the Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that for many years people had reservations about nuclear but views have changed, with the war in Ukraine "acting as an accelerator ... never before has it been so obvious that for the transition to succeed we need every source".

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said his government was planning to construct 1200 MW of new capacity and would be inviting the world's companies to bid for the contracts. Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob said public support for nuclear energy in his country was now above 65% - "it has never been higher". He said that financing was needed from multilateral banks at affordable rates, and also investment was needed in a new skilled workforce. He said global warming was the biggest threat and "we need to act immediately".

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has large-scale nuclear expansion plans, welcomed the alliance for new nuclear, saying nuclear energy was the only way to reconcile the need to reduce emissions, create jobs and boost energy security. He added that many countries wanted to electrify mobility "but if the electricity is produced by fossil fuels it is a stupid move". He said there was a need to combine improving energy efficiency, and increase renewables as well as new nuclear.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said nuclear was prioritised within the country's power and climate change policy areas. He also said small modular reactors hold the promise of bringing nuclear energy to remote or hard to reach areas.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the Akkuyu nuclear power plant would meet 10% of the country's electricity demand when completed and the plan is for more large plants and SMRs. He also backed IAEA efforts to stop an accident happening at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. For Japan, Masahiro Komura, Parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, said it was essential to introduce clean energy to the greatest possible extent and to devise strategies to get more investment to enhance the use of nuclear energy.

For the USA, John Podesta Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy, Innovation and Implementation, said the summit was a 21st Century update for the Atoms for Peace vision, and referenced the commitment by countries at COP28 to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050, which he said means 200 GW of new nuclear capacity in the USA. He said a start had already been made and added that the country would also aim to help tackle the climate crisis by helping other countries across the world "build safe, secure, reliable, nuclear power".

Which countries signed the declaration

Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, UK, and the USA.

Industry support for the summit

A number of industry representative groups issued a joint statement in which they welcomed the outcome of the summit, and "the commitment of the national leaders assembled to the development and deployment of nuclear energy to fight climate change, provide energy security, and drive sustainable economic development. We stand ready to work alongside governments to deliver the required nuclear capacity to meet the challenges ahead of us".

The statement from the groups - World Nuclear Association, Canadian Nuclear Association, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Korea Atomic Industrial Forum, Nuclear Energy Institute, Nucleareurope, and Nuclear Industry Association - said that industry needed governments to provide long-term policies and clarity for potential investors, as well as ensuring ready access to national and international climate finance mechanisms for nuclear deployment, and "promote development of the supply chain commensurate with expansion targets and continue investment in nuclear research".

World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León, said: “This meeting builds upon the good work at COP28, where we saw 25 governments come together and pledge a tripling of global nuclear capacity. As an industry we are here ready to meet the challenge and turn policies into projects to deliver the necessary nuclear energy expansion.”

What happens next?

A number of speakers at the event looked forward to similar future summits to continue to drive forward the initiative. De Croo and Grossi both said that the next summit would not necessarily need to be held in Belgium, and said it was unlikely to be an annual event, but the summit declaration concluded by saying: "We welcome and support the IAEA in convening, in cooperation with a Member State, another Nuclear Energy Summit in due course to maintain the momentum and continue building support for nuclear energy to decarbonise our world."

 

Industry ready to help deliver governmental nuclear ambitions

21 March 2024

Alongside the declaration adopted by governments at the inaugural Nuclear Energy Summit, held in Brussels on 21 March, global nuclear industry associations have set out the industry's commitment to supporting government objectives to expand nuclear energy capacity worldwide to achieve climate and energy security goals.

The Nuclear Energy Summit - hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Belgium government - is the highest-level meeting to date exclusively focused on nuclear energy, bringing together heads of state and ministers from around 30 countries, as well as industry leaders and other stakeholders.

This event builds on the unprecedented support shown for nuclear energy at COP28 in Dubai, where governments and the nuclear industry pledged to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050, and nuclear energy was included in the first global stocktake (the process for countries and stakeholders to chart progress towards meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement).

The full text of the industry statement - jointly issued by the Canadian Nuclear Association, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, the Korea Atomic Industrial Forum, the USA's Nuclear Energy Institute, Nucleareurope, the UK's Nuclear Industry Association and World Nuclear Association - is as follows:

"We applaud the convening of the first ever summit of heads of state on nuclear energy by the Prime Minister of Belgium and the Director General of the IAEA, and we welcome the commitment of the national leaders assembled to the development and deployment of nuclear energy to fight climate change, provide energy security, and drive sustainable economic development. We stand ready to work alongside governments to deliver the required nuclear capacity to meet the challenges ahead of us.

Nuclear energy makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to our global energy needs with:

• Always-on, clean, reliable, and affordable energy for electricity production and to decarbonise hard to abate sectors to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• Low-carbon electricity with a high energy density on a compact footprint, thereby reducing habitat and biodiversity loss.
• Long asset life to ensure clean energy production for decades to come, thereby reducing utilization of critical minerals.
• High-quality long-term jobs that drive economic growth.
• Energy security against geopolitical, economic, and social challenges.

We note the unprecedented support shown at COP28 for nuclear energy through government and industry declarations to triple nuclear energy worldwide by 2050 and nuclear energy's inclusion in the first global stocktake. This expansion is necessary to achieve climate and energy security goals and will require substantial investments across industry in new projects, new capabilities, and a new skilled workforce.

The global nuclear industry is committed to supporting these objectives through the continued operation of the existing nuclear energy facilities and construction of new facilities, as well as the development of infrastructure and related technologies.

However, for industry to do its part to deliver on these ambitions, governments must:

• Establish the right conditions through consistent and coherent long-term policies that facilitate fleet deployment of nuclear technologies,
• Provide clarity to investors on the funding and investment recovery mechanisms available for nuclear projects,
• Ensure ready access to national and international climate finance mechanisms for nuclear development,
• Ensure that multilateral financial institutions include nuclear energy in their investment portfolios, and
• Clearly and unambiguously label nuclear energy and the associated fuel cycle as a sustainable investment.
• Promote development of the supply chain commensurate with expansion targets and continue investment in nuclear research.

A robust and durable policy framework provides the best possible blueprint for de-risking investments in nuclear energy, reducing costs and accelerating deployment. With this certainty, the nuclear industry can invest in the people, capability and infrastructure needed to execute the ambitious target set out by the governments present today.

The industry stands ready to work in close partnership with governments to unlock the potential of nuclear energy and innovation, while ensuring nuclear safety and security, through commercially driven expansion, and realise the full potential of nuclear technology for our economies, our societies, and our planet.

This is the time to turn plans into action and seize the historic opportunity before us."

Speaking from the event, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León, said: "This meeting builds upon the good work at COP28, where we saw 25 governments come together and pledge a tripling of global nuclear capacity.

"Today, we welcome the commitment of the national leaders here in Brussels and from around the world, that are shaping energy and industrial policies to accelerate the development and deployment of nuclear energy – as a vital tool for decarbonisation and energy security, but also as a driver for human progress and sustainable economic development. As an industry we are here ready to meet the challenge and turn policies into projects to deliver the necessary nuclear energy expansion."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

Google, Microsoft and Nucor team up on clean energy development

20 March 2024

North American steel manufacturer Nucor Corporation and US tech giants Google and Microsoft Corporation are to work together across the electricity ecosystem to develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies, including advanced nuclear.

These models, they say, will be designed to accelerate the development of first-of-a-kind and early commercial projects, including advanced nuclear, next-generation geothermal, clean hydrogen, long-duration energy storage and others.

As a first step, the companies will issue a Request for Information in several US regions for potential projects in need of offtake, and encourage technology providers, developers, investors, utilities and others to get involved.

By developing new commercial structures and aggregating demand from three of the world's largest energy buyers, this approach aims to reduce the risks for utilities and developers considering early commercial projects and enable the investments that are needed - ultimately helping to bring these projects online by the early 2030s and reducing technology costs through repeated deployment.

The companies will initially focus on proving out the demand aggregation and procurement model through advanced technology pilot projects in the USA. The companies will pilot a project delivery framework focused on three enabling levers for early commercial projects: signing offtake agreements for technologies that are still early on the cost curve; bringing a clear customer voice to policymakers and other stakeholders on broader long-term ecosystem improvements; and developing new enabling tariff structures in partnership with energy providers and utilities.

In addition to supporting innovative technologies that can help decarbonise electricity systems worldwide, the partners say this demand aggregation model will bring clear benefits to large energy buyers. Pooling demand enables buyers to offtake larger volumes of carbon-free electricity from a portfolio of plants, reducing project-specific development risk, and enables procurement efficiencies and shared learnings.

To ensure that the project delivery framework that they develop is transparent and scalable, Google, Microsoft and Nucor will share their lessons learned and the roadmap from their first pilot projects, and encourage other companies to consider how they can also support advanced clean electricity projects.

In May last year, Nucor signed a memorandum of understanding with NuScale Power to explore the deployment of NuScale's VOYGR small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) power plants at Nucor's scrap-based Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel mills. In addition, NuScale is studying the feasibility of siting a manufacturing facility for NuScale Power Modules near a Nucor facility. In April 2022, Nucor - with operating facilities in the USA, Canada and Mexico - committed to a USD15 million private investment in public equity in NuScale Power.

In 2022, Constellation Energy announced it was collaborating with Microsoft on the development of an energy matching technology using real-time, data-driven carbon accounting solution and hour-by-hour regional tracking to match customer needs with local carbon-free energy sources. Last year, Microsoft agreed a new hourly energy-matching agreement with Constellation that harnesses the environmental attributes of nuclear to put the data centre in Boydton, Virginia "very close" to the goal of 100% carbon-free operation.

Microsoft has also signed an agreement with fusion energy developer Helion Energy for the provision of electricity from its first fusion power plant.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

CERN's decision to end cooperation with Russian scientists criticised by Moscow

20 March 2024

CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, is to cut cooperation with Russian scientists later this year, a decision the country's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called "politically motivated and absolutely unacceptable".

CERN's Large Hadron Collider (Image: CERN)

CERN was established in 1953, with cooperation with the Soviet Union first formalised in 1967. In 1993 a Cooperation Agreement was signed with the Russian Federation, which led on to the 2019 International Cooperation Agreement, which is in force until 30 November 2024 and constitutes the framework for cooperation between the parties.

Following a March 2022 United Nations General Assembly Resolution, entitled "Aggression Against Ukraine”, it suspended the Observer status of the Russian Federation until further notice and "the effective suspension of all exchanges of funds, materials and personnel in both directions with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, and suspended the participation of CERN scientists in all scientific committees of institutions located in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, and vice versa".

The decision to end the cooperation agreement was taken in December 2023 when CERN's Council passed a resolution "to terminate the International Cooperation Agreement between CERN and the Russian Federation, together with all related protocols and addenda, with effect from 30 November 2024; To terminate ... all other agreements and experiment memoranda of understanding allowing the participation of the Russian Federation and its national institutes in the CERN scientific programme, with effect from 30 November 2024; AFFIRMS That these measures concern the relationship between CERN and Russian and Belarusian institutes and do not affect the relationship with scientists of Russian nationality affiliated with other institutes". The cooperation agreement with Belarus will come to an end on 27 June, before the Russian one ends.

Russian scientists are continuing to work at CERN at the moment - earlier this week Pavel Logachev, director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the TASS news agency that six of their researchers would continue their work at CERN until the end of the agreement.

And a spokesperson for the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS: "The decision will negatively affect scientific research carried out both by CERN and Russian institutions. A process is currently under way to hand things over to our colleagues from various CERN member states, which is expected to be completed by November 2024."

When asked about the situation on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Zakharova called the CERN decision a "political" one that was "unacceptable", saying it runs "completely counter to the spirit of scientific cooperation ... foreign researchers and companies willing to boost cooperation with our country are the victims of this aggressive campaign".

CERN, which is based in Geneva, says its mission is to help "uncover what the universe is made of and how it works. We do this by providing a unique range of particle accelerator facilities to researchers, to advance the boundaries of human knowledge". Among its achievements have been the Large Hadron Collider, which started up in 2009, the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012 and it was also the birthplace of the World Wide Web. CERN has 23 Member States, 10 Associate Member States and includes 17,000 people from all over the world, with more than 110 nationalities represented.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

Canadian partnership for microreactor deployment

20 March 2024

Prodigy Clean Energy and Des Nëdhé Group - an Indigenous Economic Development Corporation - have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop opportunities to power remote mines and communities in Canada using Prodigy microreactor Transportable Nuclear Power Plants.

Conceptual illustration of Prodigy’s Microreactor Power Station TNPP. Variant is marine transported and coastally installed on land (Image: Prodigy)

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), Prodigy and Des Nëdhé will explore potential Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPPs) projects, and engage with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis across Canada, identifying ways in which Indigenous Peoples could have ownership in TNPP new builds, and how an Indigenous workforce could take a leading role in TNPP commercialisation and strategic infrastructure development.

"This collaboration represents a significant step forward in increasing opportunities for economic reconciliation, and expanding Indigenous leadership in Canada's clean energy transition," Prodigy said.

According to Prodigy, "The potential for innovation and growth in the North is limitless. Boasting nearly 40% of Canada's land mass, thousands of kilometres of rugged coastline and meandering rivers, vast reserves of metals and minerals, rich Indigenous culture and traditions, and some of the best spots in the world to watch the Northern lights, remote regions of Canada and the North are ripe for economic development."

However, it added: "‍The missing piece needed to actualise Northern industrial growth is abundant supply of clean and affordable energy ... Poor energy infrastructure and subsequent limited access to essential services and resources have created a cycle of disenfranchisement for generations - and more recently, climate-affected changes to the environment increasingly threaten Indigenous cultural traditions and opportunities for sustainable local economies."

Montreal-based Prodigy said that deploying microreactor TNPPs will "not only revolutionise the Northern energy landscape, but also catalyse economic reconciliation by supplanting historic reliance on diesel."

The Prodigy Microreactor Power Station TNPP, which can integrate different types of microreactors, would be manufactured, outfitted, and partially commissioned in a shipyard, then transported to site for installation either on land or in a marine (shoreside) setting. Prodigy is collaborating with Westinghouse to develop a TNPP outfitted with the Westinghouse eVinci microreactor.

The eVinci microreactor is described as a "small battery" for decentralised generation markets and for microgrids, such as remote communities, remote industrial mines and critical infrastructure. The nominal 5 MWe heat pipe reactor, which has a heat capability of 14 MWt, features a design that Westinghouse says provides competitive and resilient power as well as superior reliability with minimal maintenance. The Prodigy Microreactor Power Station can integrate a single or multiple eVinci microreactors.

Mathias Trojer, president and CEO of Prodigy Clean Energy, said: "Prodigy's microreactor TNPP offers a near-term solution to transition remote locations off of diesel. Meeting Indigenous Peoples' requirements for TNPP design and energy delivery, and ensuring maximal participation of Indigenous groups as part of our technology development and commercialisation programmes, are cornerstone to our success. We are privileged to partner with Des Nëdhé to put these objectives into action."

"Ensuring a secure, carbon-free, and affordable electricity and heat supply for all of Canada is crucial, and SMRs will play a significant role," said Sean Willy, Des Nëdhé Group president and CEO. "Des Nëdhé is proud to partner with Prodigy, as their TNPP technologies address many of the upfront concerns that Indigenous groups have when considering a potential SMR project. This includes minimising the environmental impact and reducing the project life cycle complexity and cost, when compared to a traditional site-constructed SMR. The end use opportunity for TNPPs across remote industrial and residential power in Canada is very significant."

Canadian township signs potential repository hosting agreement

21 March 2024

The agreement between the Township of Ignace and Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization outlines the community's role and potential benefits, and is the next step in the ongoing process to select a site for a repository for the nation's used nuclear fuel.

Mayor Kim Baigrie (on the left) and NWMO President and CEO Laurie Swami sign the agreement (Image: NWMO)

The Ignace Council unanimously passed a resolution on 18 March to allow Mayor Kim Baigrie to sign the potential hosting agreement for the Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).

"We are proudly the first community in this willingness process to be out of the gate with NWMO by signing this historic agreement for the Township of Ignace," Baigrie said. "We certainly understand that the signing of this agreement does not mean that we are going to host a DGR or that we have decided as a community on our willingness to host a DGR. What it means is that we now have an accurate, clear, concise and signed agreement with NWMO of the economic and social components that we must consider as we decide to move forward on willingness."

The agreement is the "next logical step" in the process of staying engaged and advancing the willingness process.

The agreement will allow the Township to facilitate the DGR by building capacities to enable it to undertake tasks that will be assigned to it through the regulatory process to host the project. The new agreement is similar to, and will replace, the current Multi-Year Funding Agreement between the Township and NWMO but will provide more direct benefits to the community through the complete life cycle of the DGR project, the council said.

The NWMO launched the process to select a suitable site for the DGR for Canada's used nuclear fuel in 2010. The selected site must have the support of "informed and willing" hosts, and some 22 communities expressed interest in taking part in the process. In 2020, the NWMO announced that it had narrowed down the potential host site to two areas: the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON)-Ignace area; and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area. Both are in Ontario.

The council said it expects to make a final decision "in mid-2024". It noted that the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation "will also have its own willingness process and the Township of Ignace respects that their decision will also be required to proceed".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

In Quotes: NexGen Energy's Leigh Curyer on uranium project's potential

18 March 2024

In an interview for the World Nuclear News podcast NexGen Energy CEO and President Leigh Curyer set out the path ahead for what he calls their world-leading project in Canada, and gave his overview of the uranium sector's prospects.

Rook I (Image: NexGen)Here is an edited transcript of parts of the World Nuclear News podcast, which you can also listen to via the embedded player below or on any podcast players.

NexGen Energy's history

We founded NexGen Energy in 2011 and acquired a number of exploration properties in the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan. The deposits in the Athabasca Basin are on average 100 times the grade of the current grade of world production so you're looking for very high grade deposits, but they're very difficult to find. We were very fortunate after looking at a 30-year history of exploration in the area and then applying some new geophysical surveys over the land package we targeted a number of zones in that southwestern side of the basin and on our 21st drill hole on the property, but the very first drill hole on this particular target, we hit mineralisation. It wasn't until mid-2014, about six months after that discovery hole, that we we then hit an intercept which at the time was about the fourth best hole in uranium exploration history from a width-times-grade perspective - that hole is no longer in the top 20, the other holes [which have superseded it] are all hosted by the Arrow discovery. At that time we knew we had something incredibly significant. We knew it was one of the world's best deposits, and it certainly has turned into the world's best deposit from a grade, size and also technical environmental setting.

How long will it take to get to production?

Mining does take many years and we have just hit the 10 year anniversary from that discovery. We received our Saskatchewan provincial environmental approval in November and we're confident that we will receive the federal permit in the very near future. The timeline on construction is estimated to be 42 months from that point in time. If we were to receive the federal permit in 2024, you would expect production at the end of 2027, early 2028. So from discovery through to production, you're looking around 14 or 15 years.
 

Innovative approaches to the licensing and permitting side

Our approach has been, first of all, understanding what is required to be permitted. So even before we submitted our original project description, we put a lot of work into understanding the permitting process in Canada, the level of validation required around the technical, the environmental and the social aspects of environmental approval. And we ran that process provincially in Saskatchewan, in parallel to the federal approval process in Canada. The fact is, the environmental impact study, is primarily the same document, both provincially and federally, and there's licensing as well as the environmental approval which we have run in parallel. We've had that benefit of having a well understood ore body, it's incredibly hard rock, so it's very easy to extract ... we don't have deleterious metals once we get the ore to the surface to then deal with, so it has been innovative in that sense that we've run a few a number of streams in parallel and have received validation around it with the granting of the provincial approval. And we're confident we're about to receive that federally as well.

The uranium market and its impact on NexGen Energy

Over the last year or two it has certainly been quite lively after a long dormant period. A lot of people have asked me how it feels to discover the world's best project in one of the world's worst markets. And from my perspective, and also the team's perspective at NexGen, that was OK with us because it actually allowed us to get on with developing the project to the stage that we have, without being distracted with all the market noise that happens with a rising uranium price. It's been 10 years since discovery and in that time, up until the last two years, the uranium market has been pretty quiet. Our confidence was that this market was always coming, with respect to demand increasing, yet mined supply is the most fragile it's ever been and the costs of producing from those current mines are going up substantially ... this has been building since 2011 and and you just can't turn on mined supply overnight - we've got one of the simplest projects technically on the planet, and yet it's still going to be a 15-year process from discovery through to actual production. We weren't the only ones to recognise it - uranium fund holders such as Yellow Cake in the UK and Sprott Uranium Trust in North America, they saw the Western world's leading producers buying spot pounds on the market because it was cheaper than those mines could produce it themselves - and when do you ever see that in a commodity, let alone an energy commodity, so they recognised the trade and started buying. They have also been correct. I think the fundamentals are now locked in for uranium for longer than they weren't. Our project, which will be the world's largest, at about 25% of the world's mined supply, is just replacing mined supply that is expected to come off between now and when we're in production. 30 million pounds is what our feasibility engineering study has scheduled and that's coming from a very tiny mine. We are moving the ore [equivalent to the volume] of about one double decker bus, one and a half double decker buses a day - that's a reflection of the incredible grade.

How long will the supply last?

As per the feasibility study, which only takes into account the measured and indicated resources, that's 10.7 years. We have another 80 million pounds in an inferred resource. And now it's inferred just through the drill density is at 50 metre spacing, to get it into the measured and indicated, you need to bring that down to 15 to 25 metres. Now that ore will convert as has the balance of the deposit. And then we also have a number of other mineralisation zones in and around Arrow and particularly under Arrow where we've hit more mineralisation but yet to define it because it's under Arrow and it's deep. We have permitted for an initial 24-year mine life. And that permit timeline reflects our confidence in the deposit just in and around Arrow. We discovered it with the first drill hole within a four and a half kilometre radius. We obviously knew what we were doing, no doubt about that. But did we find the only motherlode in the area? I don't think so. We know we have more mineralisation as well. And so we've just recently kicked off our 2024 exploration programme, where we are looking for new Arrow-type zones within an economic distance of the Arrow deposit. So all of that signifies our approach to getting a 24-year initial mine licence.

The impact of geopolitics

We did experience as a company the demand for our ore going forward, the interest from utilities in the US, Europe, Japan, other parts of Asia increased substantially with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So I think from an ESG perspective, we're becoming even more preferable with respect to a safe, reliable and socially acceptable source of supply, given the environmental benignness of our mine, but also the location as well.

How much of your proposed production have you already got customers for?

We're currently fully levered to future prices, we have not locked in any pounds of production yet. Once we have visibility on the precise timing of production with the federal approval, we will then start entering into those contracts. But with utilities in the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East as well ... we've been in dialogue for primarily the last three years and the frequency of those discussions have elevated even in the last three months.

What about the wider outlook for the nuclear sector?

Having been in the sector since 2002 I'm just really pleased that the European Union came out and officially designated nuclear as clean, green and safe relative to any baseload, carbon-emitting form of energy. You saw the UK government really invest heavily in the development of their nuclear programme, the US government have also done it with the Inflation Reduction Act. I think it just reflects that people who are sensible about energy policy have recognised that the merits of nuclear are now based on the scientific fact as opposed to some of the false political ideologies that have been generated around nuclear energy.

What about the picture in Australia?

Having lived in Australia, I think Australia is one of the toughest opinion markets in the world around nuclear energy. We're going to take delivery of nuclear-powered submarines through AUKUS, and I think you are going to see a small modular reactor developed in Australia probably in that 2030 decade, because the realisation around sensible energy policy, if you want carbon-free based low power, it has to be nuclear energy. The last public opinion poll I reviewed had more than half of the population supporting nuclear energy to be developed in Australia ... I think that reflects the scientific appreciation of nuclear as opposed to some of those false ideologies that were generated in the 1960s and 1970s.

What is the latest NexGen Energy news?

During the podcast interview, Curyer said exploration teams were working hard, and said there would be updates in the months ahead. And since the episode was published, NexGen Energy has indeed announced the discovery of new intense uranium mineralisation on its SW2 Property, 3.5 kilometres east of the Arrow Deposit. In a news release Curyer said "this new intercept reflects the high potential of NexGen's extensive land package in the south-western section of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, and is a testament to the strategic and disciplined approach to identifying new Arrow-type zones of mineralisation. Drilling activity is being fully dedicated to this new discovery area to advance our understanding of scope and scale of mineralisation".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News