Martin Cheetham is the station director of the EDF-run Heysham 2 nuclear power plant on the Lancashire coast in northwest England. It has two advanced gas-cooled reactors which were first connected to the grid in 1988. They have a combined power of 1.24 GW and had an initial design life to 2023 before being extended to 2028.The second unit at Heysham 2 power plant set a record with 940 days of continuous operation from 2014 to 2016 and the plant is now closing in on setting a new record for e...

Global tech giants Microsoft, Google and Amazon have all announced deals which will see them using nuclear energy in the coming years. In this edition we outline what has been announced, why, and also consider the significance for new nuclear energy in the future. There is also a report from Claire Maden on what was a very timely session at last month's World Nuclear Symposium focusing on connecting end users with 24/7 energy. Those who featured on the panel include Todd Noe, Director of Nucl...

A group of 14 global financial institutions have expressed their support for the call to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Their message, during New York Climate Week, stated their recognition that global civil nuclear energy projects have an important role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy and means they join 25 countries and more than 120 companies already signed up to that tripling goal.Jonathan Cobb, senior programme lead, climate, at World Nuclear Association, expla...

Total nuclear electricity generation rose in 2023 despite a small drop in overall capacity, according to World Nuclear Performance Report 2024. In this episode, lead author Jonathan Cobb, senior programme lead, climate, at World Nuclear Association, joins us to pick out the key stats and trends from the annual collection of operating facts and figures.He explains how the average operating capacity of nuclear power plants has been increasing - with trends showing that older nuclear plant...

Steady Energy is developing the LDR-50 small modular reactor with the initial goal of decarbonising district heating systems. The CEO of the Finnish company, Tommi Nyman, explains why the decision to focus on heat rather than electricity was taken.The company was spun out of VTT, Finland's national research lab, and was prompted by its researchers noting that 10% of CO2 emissions come from heating water or steam to 150C and thinking "why not build something simple that would only cover low te...

Southern Nuclear's Senior Vice President for Vogtle 3 and 4, John Williams, discusses the achievement and "tremendous pride" from everyone involved in completing the first new nuclear units built in the USA for more than 30 years. He says that both AP1000s have been performing well, with Vogtle 3 operating at 98% capacity since being put into service a year ago. And, as well as the direct jobs - 9000 workers were on site at peak construction - he says that people can see the benefits of carbo...

The historian, author and academic Jean-Baptiste Fressoz explains why he thinks that the idea of energy transition is a simplistic and flawed one, noting that what has actually happened throughout history has been different energy sources piling up on top of each other - such as more wood being used after the "switch" to coal, and more coal being used after the emergence of oil.Even if nuclear and renewables manage to decarbonise the electricity sector, he says, the big issue will be what is ...

A special report on the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2024 international forum, co-organised by the Nuclear Energy Institute and World Nuclear Association. The two day event included discussions from leading industry figures on all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining, conversion, and enrichment companies, utilities, fuel suppliers and waste management specialists. One key question was the challenge of being able to supply the fuel which would be required for the tripling of...

Professor Tim Tinsley prefers not to use the label of nuclear waste, instead referring to "legacy material". And it's not hard to see why, given the projects currently taking place to extract radionuclides from the material for use in pioneering treatments for cancer. It is also providing a new source of power and heat for spacecraft. Tinsley, Professor of Space Nuclear Power at the University of Leicester and Account Director for Space and Radioisotopes at the National Nuclear Laboratory in...

The ambitious aim for NexGen Energy, is to be supplying 25% of the world's mined supply of uranium - and about 50% of the western world's mined supply - when its Rook 1 project in Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada starts production, says its CEO, President and founder, Leigh Curyer. He joins host Alex Hunt and Claire Maden to outline how he got into the industry and the decision to set up NexGen - and the good news that interrupted a Valentine's Day meal in 2014. As well as outlining...

The UK operations managing director of Newcleo, Andrew Murdoch, joins host Alex Hunt to discuss the prospects for the company's lead-cooled fast reactor. It has Italian roots and expanding operations in France, but he says the company has the ambitious target  of having 20 reactors in the UK by 2050. January saw EDF revise the schedule and projected budget for the Hinkley Point C project in the UK. Hear how Hinkley Point C managing director Stuart Crooks explained the revision in a message...

The UK has plans to quadruple its nuclear energy capacity to 24GW by 2050. The government released its plan to get to that figure with its Civil Nuclear: Roadmap to 2050.  The arms-length delivery body established for new nuclear is Great British Nuclear, and in this episode, its Chairman Simon Bowen discusses the plans, and the changes proposed in how sites are chosen and in establishing other routes to market for new nuclear. Bowen also sets out the latest on the UK's on-going small...

A special report on nuclear's role at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, better known as COP28, in Dubai. It was the first time nuclear energy has been formally specified as one of the solutions to climate change in a COP agreement. Jonathan Cobb, senior communication manager at World Nuclear Association, was in the UAE for the event and he reports on declarations by governments, and by industry, backing a tripling of nuclear capacity by 2050 as part of the Net Zero...

Technology and function, ensuring their reliable and safe operation have long been the priorities when designing nuclear power plants. But why can't they look beautiful too?  Dutch architect and designer Erick van Egeraat says that part of the way to continue to build public support for nuclear energy is to make nuclear power plants look good, "to make people feel good" when they see them. The award-winning professor and director of Design Erick van Egeraat outlined his thinking at World...

With the projected growth of nuclear projects over the coming decades, how will the supply chain in different parts of the world cope? EDF's Laurent-Olivier Coudeyre is chairman of World Nuclear Association's Supply Chain and Long-Term Operation Working Group, he joins us to outline how the supply chain works, the focus on quality, localisation and how it can develop in the future. We also hear from Nathan Paterson, the staff director of the association's working group, about some of the key...

World Nuclear Symposium, held in London, brought together key figures from across the global industry, who took part in a variety of panel discussions on many of the current big issues in the sector. In this special edition of the podcast, World Nuclear News reports on those sessions: The topics covered, in order: The launch of the Net Zero Nuclear campaignPublication of World Nuclear Association's Nuclear Fuel ReportRecruitment and expanding the nuclear workforceHow nuclear can decarbonise...

It was in 2003 that World Nuclear University was founded by World Nuclear Association, the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Association of Nuclear Operators and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency,  with a mission to provide comprehensive leadership, communications and technical training to support the next generation of nuclear leaders. As it marks its 20th birthday, host Alex Hunt is joined by World Nuclear University (WNU)  director Isis Leslie to learn more about its work and also...

The annual World Nuclear Performance Report has all the statistics and numbers anyone interested in the nuclear energy sector could possibly want. It breaks down the performance of reactors across the world by type, by age and by country. The author behind it is World Nuclear Association's Jonathan Cobb, who joins us to discuss this year's findings. As well as explaining the reason why some parts of the world saw a small decline in nuclear energy output in 2022, he has a bundle of...

What is the current position with nuclear energy in the continent of Africa and what are the prospects for the future? Lassina Zerbo is the former head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization and current chairman of the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board - he joins us to discuss the situation at the moment and look ahead to the future. He talks about the history and considers why there is only one country in the continent with an operating nuclear power plant, and how changes in...

The World Nuclear Fuel Cycle international forum is co-organised by the Nuclear Energy Institute and World Nuclear Association. As the name suggests, this conference is very much focused on the commercial nuclear fuel cycle and the economic competitiveness of nuclear energy, so as you'd expect, the programme is firmly based around the issues that are of significance in the fuel marketplace - and that's certainly a complex and challenging place right now. Claire Maden has put together a...

The French nuclear giant EDF and its partners have been working on their Nuward small nuclear reactor and have now spun the operation into a subsidiary company.  Renaud Crassous, president of Nuward joins us to discuss its plans and timelines, and explains why the decision to set up a subsidiary company was taken. During a wide-ranging interview Crassous talks about the pioneering early design regulatory review being jointly carried out by regulators in three countries, and explains why the...

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency released a report in March which it described as the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. Claire Maden reports on the report's key findings (that there's still a long way to go to boost female representation in the sector) and also on what NEA Director General William D Magwood IV and Fiona Rayment, chair of the NEA's Gender Balance Task Group had to say about the situation. The need to encourage more women into...

Brandon Munro, CEO of Bannerman Energy, joins us to consider the impact on the uranium and wider nuclear sector of the Russia-Ukraine war as it continues into a second year. Munro sees a bright future for the uranium sector and also talks about the prospects for an expansion of nuclear in Africa and why he sees the Cameco-Westinghouse deal as a good thing, and one which gives more backing for the idea of nuclear energy being part of green taxonomies. And what about those people who are...

What can be done to improve the process of getting approval for new nuclear in different countries? If a reactor, for example a small modular reactor, is approved in one country, can that help to speed up the process in a different country? Jay Wileman is president and CEO of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy so is well placed to outline what the issues are for companies such as his, which is currently in the process of  getting approvals from multiple countries for the BWRX-300 SMR. Wileman is a...