Co-sponsored Conference:
“Challenges and Opportunities Facing Nuclear Energy in an Energy Transitions Context: Innovation and Actions to Advance Clean Nuclear Energy”
November 13 – 14, 2018
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
1-3-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-8901 – Japan
This conference will continue, under the framework of IFNEC, the dialogue started at the Clean Energy Ministerial with the launch of the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative on 24 May 2018 in Copenhagen. The objective is to explore the role that nuclear energy options can play in contributing to economic growth, energy security and access, and environmental stewardship in support of clean energy goals.
The conference will also address the main issues that IFNEC members face such as infrastructure development, financing, cost-efficiency, and public acceptance, which have been addressed by IFNEC since its inception.
The NICE Future initiative and IFNEC can strengthen the partnership among countries with existing or planned nuclear programs, including those evaluating a whole range of low-emissions options for the future, to keep moving toward cleaner energy systems. The Conference will consist of panel sessions to discuss the role of nuclear energy, including innovative technologies, applications, and uses. Panelists will discuss their perspectives on nuclear energy’s role in the international agenda as a clean, reliable and resilient technology and advancements in its integration with other clean technologies.
With Japan holding the G20 Presidency in 2019, this conference will offer a unique opportunity to discuss the role that nuclear energy can play in the transitions to a cleaner energy future, including in sectors other than power, while ensuring the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation.
Target audience: Representatives from government, academia, industry, the financial sector and international organizations (nuclear and clean energy related).
Speakers: Nuclear institutions, academics, financial and technical experts, lawyers, international organizations, industry, and NGOs who will provide perspectives from inside and outside the nuclear sector.
The conference will be in English only.
Tuesday 13
8 – 9 a.m.
Registration
9 – 9:40 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Keynote Remarks:
- Japanese high-level government officials
- Julián Gadano – IFNEC chair – Deputy Secretary of Nuclear Energy, Ministry of Energy, Argentina
- William D. Magwood, IV – Director-General, Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
- Other high-level officials (NICE Future initiative)
9:40 – 11 a.m.
Panel Session 1: The role of nuclear energy and other technologies in future energy systems.
Objectives: Discuss scenarios, challenges and opportunities in transitions toward low-carbon energy systems, including the role that nuclear energy and innovations in nuclear technology and applications can play in these transitions.
Moderator: TBC
Speakers:
- Representative from the Japanese G20 Energy Transitions Working Group
- Alejandro Hernandez – senior electricity analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA)
- Takashi Otsuki – researcher at the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC)
- Juan Pablo Ordoñez – deputy director general at INVAP Applied Research
- Mark Nelson – senior analyst at Environmental Progress
- Additional speaker – TBC
11 – 11:20 a.m.
COFFEE BREAK
11:20 a.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Panel Session 2: Electricity markets and nuclear competitiveness.
Objectives: Examine power market structures and trends, role of variable renewables and dispatchable technologies, needs for flexibility, storage, security of supply and reliability, and nuclear energy attributes to support future low carbon electricity systems.
Moderator: George Borovas – Head of Nuclear at Sherman and Sterling
Speakers:
- Kirill Komarov – chairman of the board at the World Nuclear Association (WNA)
- Kirsty Gogan – co-founder and global director at Energy for Humanity
- Alejandro Hernandez – senior electricity analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA)
- Miho Kurosaki – energy analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance
- Edward Kee – CEO and principal consultant at Nuclear Economics Consulting Group
- Additional speaker – TBC
12:50 – 2 p.m.
LUNCH BREAK
2 – 3:30 p.m.
Panel Session 3: Financing new-build and long-term operation of Nuclear Power Plants.
Objectives: Discuss options and new paradigms for financing new reactors as well as long-term operation of the existing fleet. What would a successful “private-public partnership” actually look like, or entail? What does industry want or need from government? What are the prospects for financing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)?
Moderator: TBC
Speakers:
- George Borovas – Head of Nuclear at Sherman and Sterling
- Marcelo Salvatore – Head of Nuclear Technology Evaluation at the Undersecretariat of Nuclear Energy, Ministry of Energy, Argentina
- Other speakers – TBC
3:30 – 3:50 p.m.
COFFEE Break
3:50 – 5:20 p.m.
Panel Session 4: Nuclear technology beyond electricity generation, hybrid energy systems.
Objectives: Increase awareness of the role of nuclear energy in non-electric applications, such as process heat, desalination, district heating and hydrogen production to help decarbonise sectors other than the power sector. The session will also discuss the integration of advanced reactors to provide both electricity and heat in future low carbon energy systems (hybrid energy systems), and their potential to shift economic paradigms.
Moderator: Marcelo Salvatore – undersecretariat of nuclear energy, Ministry of Energy, Argentina
Speakers:
- Josef Sobolewski – director of the Department of Nuclear Energy at the Ministry of Energy, Poland
- Dohee Hahn – director of the Division of Nuclear Power at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- Other speakers – TBC
Wednesday 14
9 – 10 a.m.
Panel Session 5: Innovation and new developments in the nuclear sector and in other high-tech industries.
Objectives: To review the state of innovation in the nuclear sector and more generally, in the energy sector, and discuss how the nuclear sector can learn from the experience in other fields of technology.
Moderator: TBC
Speakers:
- Ignacio Peña – founder of Surfing Tsunamis think tank
- Mark Nelson – senior analyst at Environmental Progress
- Edward McGinnis – principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at U.S. Department of Energy
- Other speakers – TBC
10 – 11 a.m.
Panel Session 6: Communication and stakeholder involvement to foster a better understanding of nuclear energy’s uses (or potential uses) and value.
Objective: Discuss the role of stakeholder involvement, public participation and communication to raise the level of awareness on pros and cons of nuclear energy use and its diverse applications (or potential applications).
Moderator:TBC
Speakers:
- Kirsty Gogan – co-founder and global director at Energy for Humanity
- Suzanne Jaworowski – senior advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
- Professor Bum-jin Chung – Department of Nuclear Engineering in Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea
- Collins Juma – CEO of Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board
- International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC) representative - TBD
- Michel Berthelemy – international nuclear development at The Institute of Techno-Economics of Energy Systems (I-tésé) of the Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA)
11 – 11:20 a.m.
COFFEE BREAK
11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Panel Session 7: Nuclear energy as a pillar for a successful energy transition to low-carbon energy systems.
Objective: Wrap up the discussions of the previous panels and highlight the role that innovative nuclear technologies can play alongside other clean energy sources in the transitions to a low-carbon system. Review the challenges that need to be overcome for nuclear energy to fulfill that role.
Moderator: TBC
Confirmed Speakers:
- CEM / NICE Future representative – TBD
- Francois Storrer – policy director of the Generation IV International Forum
- Other speakers – TBC
12:20 – 12:50 p.m.
Closing Remarks:
- IFNEC SG chair
- Japanese host