Nuclear Energy at EU Level - Current State of Play and Outlook

On the evening of Thursday 28 April 2022 RSC Belgium hosted a webinar talk from Andrei Goicea, Policy Director with FORATOM - The Voice of the European Nuclear Industry. The title of Andrei's presentation was 'Nuclear Energy at EU Level - Current State of Play and Outlook'.

Andrei talked about FORATOM and the status of nuclear energy at EU level. He outlined the benefits of nuclear energy and its future at EU level including new developments, such as the European Green Deal that will impact on the nuclear sector.

He looked at the potential of nuclear for sustainable hydrogen production and its role in European industrial strategy. Other topics included that were covered included security of energy supply, energy pricing and the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs).

The nuclear energy sector currently includes a fleet of over 100 reactors in the EU that supports over 1 million jobs and produces around 25% of the EU's electricity – the highest single source of electricity. Andrei highlighted that nuclear is an option for decarbonization and that few EU nations will achieve the 2030 carbon emissions targets with their current mix of power production. The exceptions being nations like France and Sweden with higher contributions of nuclear power.

In terms of its potential for hydrogen production, the characteristics of nuclear power production are well suited to running electrolysers at greater capacity than other low-carbon options, so so-called 'pink hydrogen' ('green hydrogen' is defined as hydrogen generated by renewable power - solar, wind etc) has better economics.

The very informative presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session. You can download Andrei's presentation here and a recording of the webinar can be viewed below or via our RSC Belgium YouTube channel.

About the speaker

Andrei Goicea graduated in 2002 from both the University Politehnica of Bucharest - Faculty of Power Engineering as a nuclear engineer and the “Spiru Haret” University, Marketing and Foreign Trade Faculty as an economist. He also holds a masters degree from the University Politehnica of Bucharest - Faculty of Power Engineering in nuclear safety and radiological protection from 2003.

He started work with FORATOM - The Voice of the European Nuclear Industry - in May 2015 and is currently Policy Director. He previously worked at Nuclearelectrica in Romania (2003 – 2013) and on the Mochovce Units 3 and 4 Project in Slovakia (2013-2015).

Future Energy Supplies for Europe

Energy is vital to our modern society. But where will our future energy supplies be sourced? How do we ensure an adequate energy supply while protecting our environment? And where do the chemical sciences fit into all this? These questions were the subject of a Café Chimique event organised by RSC Belgium on 28 January.

The event took place in the very convivial atmosphere of the Salle des Fêtes in Auderghem Cultural Centre. There an audience of well over 50 RSC members, friends and members of the public listened to short presentations from our panel of four speakers to help the audience understand the issues, possibilities and policy pros and cons.

Energy spread

Our debate speakers represented a wide range of energy perspectives. You can access a short biography for each of our speakers here.

Our first speaker was Peter Botschek (above), Head of Energy at Cefic - the European Chemical Industry body. Peter gave an overview of the energy scene in Europe and its evolution and possible impact on the chemical sector. You can find his presentation here.

Philippe Charlez (above), Unconventional Resources Development Director, from French oil and gas giant Total is an expert in hydraulic fracturing and was able to give an insight on the techniques used to liberate shale gas and oil. His presentation is here.

Jan Duerinck (above) from the Belgian Flemish research organisation VITO is an economist and expert on renewable energy technologies specializing in the development of techno-economic energy–environmental models. He was co-author of the study “Towards 100% renewable energy in Belgium by 2050” published in 2012 that was commissioned by the four Belgian ministers in charge of energy. His slides can be found here.

Finally Richard Ivens (above), Institutional Affairs Director at Foratom – the European Nuclear industry body - talked about the current status of the nuclear energy sector with a special focus on post Fukushima developments. Richard's presentation is here.

High level of debate
Following a short pause to refresh our glasses we launched into an audience-led debate on the future of our energy supplies expertly marshalled by our chairman Bob Crichton.

The questions from the audience were varied ranging from the environmental and economic issues of 'fracking' to the viability nuclear and some renewable technologies to achieve a truly low-carbon energy system.

The mix of technical, economic and political issues raised during the hour-long session kept our panel on their toes and they clearly enjoyed the debate. Commenting afterwards Philippe Charlez said: "It was really a pleasure to participate in this Cafe Chimique. I was impressed by the level of the debate and the quality of the questions."

The issue of how our future energy supplies will be provided is clearly very complex. But following the debate on 28 January  RSC Belgium members and friends now have some valuable insights on the varied challenges and problems that need to be overcome to ensure we 'keep the lights on' across Europe!