Events
CIEP Future Fuels Seminar "Nuclear Energy and EU Energy Policy" 24 January 2006
On Tuesday 24 January 2006 CIEP organised a seminar on nuclear energy and EU energy policy. Speakers at this seminar included H.E. Mr Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, Minister of Economic Affairs of The Netherlands, Mr Ruud Lubbers, ECN Supervisory Board Chairman and former Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Thierry Dujardin of OECD/NEA, Mr Christian Waeterloos, of the European Commission's DG Transport and Energy, Mr. Hans Forsström of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr Helmut Engelbrecht, Urenco and Clingendael's Prof. Jaap de Zwaan. Nuclear energy is back on many policy agendas in EU countries. Both climate change concerns and increasing longer term security of supply awareness make nuclear energy look more attractive again in the eyes of many. European countries that have decided in the past to phase out the role of nuclear energy seem to reconsider or are reconfirming this decision.
The still widely deferring opinions on nuclear energy in the EU together with the recent policy developments in this field offer ample space for debate. The seminar provided insights into the economics of nuclear power stations, technical and economic issues in the fuel cycle as well as into approaches to controlling the proliferation of nuclear technology.
Contributors to the seminar in general agreed that nuclear energy today would be competitive with other power generation options and that nuclear waste problems would be technically manageable. Before the seminar, protesters demonstrated that such thinking is not (yet) public consensus by clearly expressing their view that the problems related to nuclear waste are far from being solved.
International co-operation was highlighted as being beneficial or even very much necessary in many aspects of nuclear energy. For fuel processing and waste disposal sharing facilities brings along economic advantages whereas for proliferation issues international controls can most probably be the most effective when international institutions are strengthened.
Learn more from the presentations and papers:
Downloads:
- Programme
- Presentation by Jacques de Jong
- Presentation by Thierry Dujardin
- Presentation by Hans Codée
- Presentation by Hans Forström
- Presentation by Jaap de Zwaan
- Presentation by George Verberg
- Presentation by Christian Waeterloos
Briefing paper: Moving beyond the stalemate, addressing the nuclear challenge by supranational means, Ruud Lubbers
CIEP Future Fuels Seminar
The seminar is the third in CIEP's series of seminars on fuels that will play a role in the transition to an energy-mix less dominated by fossil fuels. Other seminars so far covered Gas-to-Liquid technology and biofuels.