Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future—Creating Opportunities for Cross-Sectoral Cooperation - May 1

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>>Vickie: Panelists, can you hear me?
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>>Kiochiro: Yes.
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>> Sarah: Yes, I can hear you.
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>> Vickie: Great.
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Thanks.
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Hello everyone.
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I’m Vickie Healey and would like to welcome you to today’s webinar hosted by the National
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Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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Today’s webinar is focused on the nuclear innovation
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clean energy future which is an initiative of
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the clean energy ministerial that is creating opportunities for cross sectoral cooperation.
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Real quickly before we begin the webinar a couple of housekeeping items I’d like to
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go over with you with.
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First of all, for audio you have two options.
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But please note that this is a US based phone number.
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Questions, if you would like to ask a question, we ask that you use the questions pane
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again found on the right-hand side of your screen.
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And there you can type in your questions.
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When you type in your question, I would ask that you please note which
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panelist or panelists you would like for me to direct your question to and I’ll be happy
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to do that.
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Also, I’d like to let you know that this webinar is being recorded and the recording
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and presentations that you’re seeing today will
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be added to our YouTube channel at the link that is provided on this slide.
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Quickly I’d like to go over the agenda.
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Today’s webinar is centered around presentations that provide
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an overview of the Clean Energy Ministerial and an introduction and informative overview
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of the NICE Future initiative.
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Before we launch into the presentations, I will provide
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a quick introduction of our esteemed panelists and then following their presentations
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we will have a question and answer session where the panelists will address questions
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submitted by our audience.
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First up I would like to introduce our speakers.
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First up with have Diane Cameron who will provide an overview of the Clean Energy
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Ministerial and an introduction to the NICE Future initiative.
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Diane is the director of nuclear energy in the ministry of natural
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resources Canada.
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Following Diane, Kiochiro Maruta will tell you about the current
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status of the initiative.
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Kiochiro is the deputy director of Japan’s office for international
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nuclear agency for natural resource and energy at the ministry of economy, trade and
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industry in Japan.
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And then following him, we will hear from Sarah Lennon who serves as the associate –
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excuse me – the associate deputy assistant secretary for international nuclear energy
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policy and cooperation in the United States Department of Energy office of nuclear
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energy.
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Sarah will discuss how you and others can engage in this exciting initiative.
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And once – excuse me – the panelists complete
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their introductions I’ll take a moment – excuse me.
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And now I will take a moment to pass the controls over and welcome Diane to the
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webinar.
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So give me one moment to pass those controls over.
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Ok.
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>>Diane: Hi everyone.
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My name is Diane Cameron.
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I’m the director of the nuclear energy division at the department of natural
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resources with the federal government of Canada.
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It’s my pleasure to be on this webinar this evening and to provide an
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introduction or an overview, a little bit about the Clean Energy Ministerial’s framework
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and then an introduction to the specific initiative that is the topic of tonight’s webinar that
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is the nuclear innovation clean energy future or as we like to call it, the NICE Future
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initiative.
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Next slide please.
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Once I’ve had a chance to provide an introduction to the NICE Future
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initiative, I’ll pass the microphone to my colleague from Japan, Kiochiro Maruta who
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will provide a current status of the initiative.
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And then over to US Department of Energy’s Sarah Lennon where Sarah will be
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able to provide and speak to opportunities for engagement by yourselves and your organizations
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that you represent.
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Next slide please.
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So we’ll start with a little bit about the Clean Energy Ministerial’s
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framework overall.
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Next slide.
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The Clean Energy Ministerial or the CEM, C-E-M as we
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like to call it, CEM, is a high level global forum.
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The focus is to promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technology
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where we can share lessons learned and share best practices and encourage the transition
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to a global clean energy economy.
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It is an international or a multilateral initiative
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with 24-member countries plus the European commission.
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Together, the CEM member countries represent an estimated 90 percent of global clean
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energy investment and an estimated 75 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions
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making this a very important platform for discussions about international clean energy
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initiatives and the transition to low carbon future.
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The CEM is focused on three global climate and energy policy goals.
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One, to improve energy efficiency worldwide.
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Two, to enhance clean energy supplies.
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And three, to expand clean energy access.
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Next slide please.
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It is a multilateral initiative but it’s a different kind of initiative and it’s
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unique in a number of ways.
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For starters, it is distributed and shared leadership.
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In other words, under the CEM, there are a number of
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initiatives and campaigns, a series of coalitions or collaborations among interesting,
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interested and willing members.
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So each initiative such as the NICE Future initiative
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is driven by member countries that wish to participate.
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There’s no expectation that all member countries will participate in every
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initiative.
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Each is a collaboration among interested countries.
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So it is voluntary and collaborative.
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There is no negotiated communicates.
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There are no consensus text.
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In other words, it’s space for collaboration and for great ideas
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to be brought forward by small groups of countries or in some cases large groups of
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countries in which to focus on a common area of interest.
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It is a member driven initiative.
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But the initiatives and the campaigns are not
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restricted to member countries only.
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Other countries that are not members of CEM can
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also participate.
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And participation can be extended to private sector and international
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organizations and civil society organizations.
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So it’s a very flexible space to advance our
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global common interest in transition to low carbon and to a clean future.
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Next slide please.
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There are annual meetings of ministers.
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There have been eight ministerial meetings so far.
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These are opportunities for countries, member countries to
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meet at the highest levels and share progress and get a sense of priority direction for
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continued collaboration in the initiatives and the campaigns.
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CEM 9 is the next ministerial meeting.
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It will take place in Copenhagen in Denmark on May 24, 2018.
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So just next month, actually later this month.
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And it will happen on as I mentioned in Copenhagen in Denmark.
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But it is collocated with the third mission innovation
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ministerial which is a related multilateral initiative on clean energy innovation.
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The mission innovation ministerial meeting will
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be happening literally across the bridge in Malmo, Sweden.
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So we never much look forward to updates from member countries on
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past issues.
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But also, this is our opportunity to launch the clean energy NICE Future
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initiative in Copenhagen later this month.
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Next slide please.
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So having set the stage with a little bit of background information
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about the overall framework, I’ll now turn to the details of the NICE Future initiative.
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Next slide please.
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I’ll start by setting out our driving rationale.
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Why did Canada, the US and Japan seek to develop an initiative on
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the NICE Future, an initiative that focuses on
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nuclear energy within the context of this overall clean energy ministerial process.
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The rationale is quite straightforward.
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Nuclear energy is an important contributor to global
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clean energy supply.
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It is a low emitting source of energy and it will continue to play a role in meeting
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our future clean energy goals.
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That’s true domestically in Canada.
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It’s true in other countries and it’s true around the world.
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Even so, strategic planning for future clean energy systems
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doesn’t always include discussions of nuclear energy.
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You hear a lot about other innovative areas of clean energy including
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energy efficiency, demand side management, variable renewables and yet discussions about
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nuclear often take place on the margins or in a different forum.
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As a result, there remains a need for a dialogue on the role of nuclear
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alongside the other forms of clean energy in an integrated and holistic manner.
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Next slide please.
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On this slide, we listed a number of existing multilateral for a where
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countries get together and discuss nuclear energy and nuclear energy innovation.
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Nuclear, the Nuclear Energy Agency for example where
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there are 33-member countries.
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And here on the slide, we’ve listed the specific
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niche that is filled by each one of these fora.
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The Nuclear Energy Agency, we speak amongst _
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countries about scientific technological and legal bases for safe environmentally sound
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and economical uses of nuclear energy.
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But when we get together at this table, countries
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send their nuclear experts to this table.
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And so, we have a very detailed and very thoughtful
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discussions.
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But we have discussions amongst nuclear energy specialists at this
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fora.
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The same is generally true at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Although that is a much broader membership, 169 countries.
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The focus is exclusively on nuclear.
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Generation IV International Forum, 13 countries plus Euratom.
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This is about R&D and next generation.
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International Framework For Nuclear Energy Cooperation or as we call
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it IFNEC, 34 plus countries.
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This was an informal setting where we share lessons learned
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and best practices.
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But again, amongst nuclear ministries or nuclear leaders within each
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member country.
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And lastly Mission Innovation which is related to CEM, 22 countries
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plus the European Union.
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But this is focused on research and development.
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The point that this slide is trying to make is that there are extensive international
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engagements already taking place in the area of nuclear energy.
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But then are happening very much amongst nuclear experts.
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And with the next slide please, we’d like to take a
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moment to reflect on what the CEM opportunity is.
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Why should we bring nuclear energy to the Clean Energy Ministerial dialogue?
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What is the unique opportunity that is represented by bringing nuclear to this new
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table that does not duplicate what we were already doing at the other tables.
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And for us, the point is clear.
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This is a place for a policy dialogue across energy sub-sectors.
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We are bringing nuclear energy to discussions that
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extend beyond existing fora to inform clean energy policy makers more broadly.
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We’re raising nuclear energy to a ministerial level
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discussion and we are encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing among
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interested countries in the role of nuclear integrated energy systems.
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Next slide please which elaborates on these points even further.
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To say that our objective is to sort of dialogue on the role that nuclear
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energy can play in bolstering clean energy innovation, economic growth, energy security
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and access and environmental stewardship in support of clean energy goals.
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The bottom line here is that we’re elevating nuclear not
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only to a ministerial level but we’re bringing nuclear to non-nuclear audiences both from
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the perspective of policy makers in the broader sphere of clean energy beyond just
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nuclear energy policy makers and developing partnerships with our colleagues who work
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on renewable energy and who work on energy efficiency.
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Broadening the dialogue and insuring that the full optionality of clean energy options
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for the future of the planet is considered in
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a realistic way that takes into consideration all of
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the relative advantages and challenges associated with each of the options, essentially
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recognizing that there is no silver bullet.
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There is no perfect option.
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Otherwise we would have already all adopted it.
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And so, as we face this challenge globally, this clean energy
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challenge globally that we are doing so with our policy makers and our highest-level
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discussions being fully informed by all of the options across the energy space and that
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that will include nuclear energy.
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Next slide please.
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And so, we have proposed the scope of the NICE Future initiative
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would allow both for consideration of full scale nuclear power for baseload electricity,
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much of which reflects the importance of generation three or current generation nuclear
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power plants that are in operation around the world but also allows for a consideration
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of advanced or next generation nuclear technology,
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innovative applications for nuclear and coordinated or hybridized nuclear renewable
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energy systems.
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Here we’re talking about applications that are both for power generation
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and non- power generation.
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So we might have here a small modular reactor that are
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able to provide combined heat and power for heavy industry.
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Or we might have a hybridized nuclear renewable system where the
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nuclear component dynamically follows the variable renewable in the system to provide
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flexible and responsive power for a grid.
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Next slide please.
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Across those two thematic areas we propose to focus on these four
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areas.
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One, providing technology evaluation and technology briefings, plain language
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briefings for clean energy policy makers so that they know what the realm of the possible
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is, so that we are challenging their assumptions about nuclear energy that nuclear energy
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isn’t just about your grandfather’s nuclear power plant which was providing very
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valuable large scale baseload electricity, but making sure that policy makers also know
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about the innovations in nuclear energy that are coming down the pipeline.
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The second focus area is engagement of policymakers and stakeholders regarding the sole
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optionality energy choices for the future.
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The third area’s focus is economics and the
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market valuation.
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Developing our understanding of market structures, power market
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structures and financing issues associated with clean energy projects including nuclear
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energy projects.
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And the fourth area of focus is communications about nuclear energy’s
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role in integrated clean energy systems for the future.
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Next slide please.
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And with that, I’d like to thank you for your attention
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and pass the microphone to my esteemed colleague from Japan, Kiochiro Maruta.
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>>Kiochiro: Thank you.
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My name is Kiochiro Maruta from Japan, Japanese ministry of
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economy energy agency.
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So I would like to explain about the current status of this
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initiative so please next slide.
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So the current status of the initiative I would like to explain
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today mainly is three pillars.
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The first is about engagement based on joining countries.
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And the second one is work plan development and the third one is launch event.
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So I will explain the details of each one by one.
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So move to the next slide please.
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So the first are the engagement with countries.
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Now currently 13 of 25 CEM member countries have
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indicated some interest in the initiative plus four non-CEM members.
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Besides the co-leads of US, Japan and Canada these
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countries listed here have stated interest to join, UAE, South Africa, Russia, Romania,
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Poland, Argentina.
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So we welcome non-CEM member countries, especially and mainly
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like Argentina, Poland and Romania.
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Thank you for all.
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And so, I don’t know who are here but please to the next slide please.
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So I have mentioned about the countries but also these
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initiatives.
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I would like to invite like the industries or researchers so NICE Future initiative
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will work with wide range of both nuclear energy and non-nuclear energy focused
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first in technology organization.
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So initiative invites member of industry, research
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organization and civil society.
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For example, like think tanks, environmental organizations
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and communities.
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Next slide please.
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And then move to the work plan development.
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So areas of activity is listed here.
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The first, the three categories of activities.
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US, Canada and Japan have worked on development including our activities
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as well as operating agency and the way of joining the [inaudible].
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So three categories based here.
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The first one is initiate a cross sectional dialogue among expert and energy
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policymakers.
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So under this initiative we will share the information, best practices
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experiences among the members.
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And the second is develop and disseminate the resources
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for policymakers.
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And we plan to develop [inaudible] and other resources for
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provide resources for policymakers.
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The third is about like build partnerships so outreach and engagement activities.
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So we will plan to evens online platform, social
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media.
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So for using these things we would like to [inaudible] the impact of NICE Future.
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And the four cross cutting themes.
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These are themes we and our colleagues discussed so
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far.
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Right?
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It’s evaluation of current and emerging technology, scenarios for future
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energy choices for policymakers, our third is
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economics and financial analysis and fourth is communicating nuclear energy’s role in
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integrated energy systems.
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These themes would be important for how can I say, provides
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some type potential, maximized potential of the nuclear with other renewables, other
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energy resources.
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So move to next slide please.
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So then this slide shows like the activities and key
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deliverables we plan to have in the first year.
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So activities and deliverables is first is about like initiate a cross sectional dialogue.
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One is hosting a keystone event or a workshop.
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For example, coming this November we will have a site conference in Tokyo.
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So we would like to have cyber event with site conference.
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And also, we will have meeting next year in Canada.
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So we plan to have site event there.
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And also launch a webinar series.
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For today this one is the first one.
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So we would like to have monthly webinar series where we invite specialists
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who can talk about like a potential nuclear or
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like the technological things which would help our understanding or like our kind of
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future potential.
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And second is develop and disseminate resources for policymakers.
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So as I mentioned we will produce a synthesis report that’s based
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on our kind of webinar series like the site event we will have and including the other
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parts of nuclear energy systems or like technologies, seminars or other some kind
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of potential innovations.
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And also, we provide, we will provide policy assistant through the
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Clean Energy Solution Center we call Ask an Expert service.
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So you guys can talk with the experts through this service.
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And third one build working groups in topic areas, build
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partnerships through outreach and engagement.
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So we will establish NICE Future council which is a kind of stakeholders’ network.
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And also, we will expand existing clean energy
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conversation and also as well taking the conversation online.
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So next slide please.
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And we will launch the event at CEM9 which will be held on May
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24th.
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The time is from 1:30 to 2:30.
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So this is – on this slide I just put the potential
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agendas we have discussed.
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So this is a kind of agenda we discussed with our colleagues.
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And the final point I’d like to add is that we would have extended photo session at 1:25
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and 2:30.
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So if you guys have interest in joining and you’d like to be in the photo, please
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take note of this schedule.
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And also, besides this like event we will have the third parties’
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visual exhibition there.
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So please next slide please.
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So this is my final presentation.
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So this is a kind of an image of the integrated system, nuclear and renewables.
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So please look up the center yellow boxes.
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This is reactors.
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And this picture shows like kind of a future image of the
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collaboration between nuclear and renewables.
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So our kind of initiative is kind of the place where both a potential nuclear and renewables
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could cooperate with.
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So I believe nuclear and renewable do not compete with
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each other but help with each other.
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So this could kind of help or kind of a broader potential
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for the future.
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So thank you for listening to my presentation.
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And I would like to ask my colleagues about the rest of the
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presentation.
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Thank you for listening.
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>>Sarah: Hi.
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This is Sarah Lennon from the office of nuclear energy at the US
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Department of Energy.
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And to finish out our webinar presentation I wanted to talk a little
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bit about how organizations, countries, industries can get engaged and also a little bit on
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our guiding principles for the initiative.
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Next slide please.
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So here you can see our structure.
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And the beautiful thing about CEM initiatives and our NICE Future initiative is
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that its informal.
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It’s flexible.
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It’s as Diane mentioned in the beginning we don’t have
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structured statements that are premade and issued formally.
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People can get engaged as the topics move them, as the topics fit their
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personal or organizational interests.
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And as we heard in the beginning our newest National Renewable Energy Laboratory or
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NREL is currently helping us out to get started.
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We see them as an operating agent to provide us much needed and much appreciated
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support.
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That is not to say that there couldn’t be other operating agents for particular
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activities in other countries as the initiative moves forward.
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Our guiding principles you can see here.
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Again, it’s voluntary.
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No one has to join.
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No one has to participate in all the activities of the initiative.
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And the idea here is that this is sharing information.
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We want other countries to join.
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We want other organizations to participate.
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They can organize, coordinate, lead, join forces with
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other organizations and other countries to put on an activity and workshops or provide
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information.
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So we’re really sharing and broadening the information highway here.
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And individual authority.
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Every NICE Future participant be it a government agency or a company or some
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multilateral organization, whatever participants want to put into it they control those
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resources.
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There’s not an overarching board that will say that money goes towards a
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particular activity or anything like that.
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And then the final guiding principal there that
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you can see is transparency.
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And as I mentioned the first goal is voluntary so not
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everyone has to participate in each and every activity but we want to make sure that the
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information is shared, communicated in a timely fashion and transparent among all NICE
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Future initiative participants.
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We will be relying on the CEM secretariats initially to share
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and broadcast information and then perhaps as working groups get stood up or as
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activities start we’ll have other networks as well to share information.
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Next slide please.
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So we support, encourage, desire engagement with government and
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with industry companies, industrial organizations and all different pieces of civil society.
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So we’re looking to work with a broader spectrum of people, initiatives or entities
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to support our initial set of NICE Future deliverables
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which mentioned a couple of slides back.
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And one way to do that is to provide information.
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And there may be existing information or reports that have not been
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discussed or socialized in the nuclear energy realm that would be beneficial.
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So that’s one way that you can get engaged or participate
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in our events or workshops or future webinars.
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And I’ll talk more about that a little bit later.
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And other events, if there are other conferences that people know about then we can
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share information about that and broaden the conversation as Diane mentioned in the
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beginning.
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Delivering engagement events, I think we sort of touched on that.
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And then sharing outcomes with your own networks.
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As we know sort of the nuclear networks that we are
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looking to broaden that conversation.
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And so, if an organization or a government representative attends an event or participates
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in a workshop and then hopefully that information about what that participant did
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can be shared with broader networks as well.
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And the key here, the buzz word is cross sectoral as is in the title of our webinar today to
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go across policy and technical, across all the spectrum of clean energy to broaden the
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dialogue.
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Next slide please.
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So it’s a little bit different for countries to get involved than industries.
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So here for countries, CEM members and non-CEM member countries can join by letting
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us know before the CEM9 ministerial or at the launch events.
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Our contact information is at the end of the slide deck so we are easily
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reachable and we hope to hear from additional countries before May 24th.
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And same thing.
32:24
Non-CEM member countries can indicate their interest by reaching out to
32:27
us by phone, email.
32:30
I think we will have a website at some point.
32:34
It’s not launched yet but we’re working on it.
32:37
Ok.
32:38
Next slide.
32:41
So for industry and civil society we invite interested parties to propose or
32:48
to give us written proposals on concrete opportunities and how they see a partnership
32:53
possibility with this initiative.
32:56
And as one might imagine it would have to align with the
32:59
objectives and principles of the initiative and really focus or target the key audiences
33:05
like clean energy stakeholders, the public obviously.
33:12
And as we mentioned the cross sectoral piece is really important so significant weight
33:18
will be given to proposals that focus on or that target clean energy stakeholders outside
33:24
of our nuclear realm to expand the conversation.
33:28
So there is how you can submit a proposal right now and next slide please.
33:38
So Kio mentioned a little bit about our NICE Future council as part of our year one
33:49
deliverable activities.
33:51
And the idea for this council is to have dialogue at a strategic level
33:57
and sort of provide guidance, suggestions, ideas and it will be nongovernmental actors
34:05
included to help actors who are in the clean energy system world and potential end users
34:13
of this clean energy.
34:15
And as you can see in the third bullet there it’s the whole gamut of
34:20
who can be involved.
34:22
But a key point there in the notes as you can see it is not intended
34:27
to say – the council will not say we must all agree or nothing can happen.
34:31
That’s not the way this initiative will work.
34:36
Ok.
34:37
Next slide.
34:39
So here’s just a little bit more detail for what the proposal would want to
34:49
include again aligning with the mission of our initiative and focusing on the value added.
34:56
What’s not being covered that a particular entity or organization might be able to bring
35:03
to the initiative?
35:04
And we really do want to make sure that we have a good balance of
35:07
representation from all clean energy sectors.
35:13
Uh oh.
35:15
Ok.
35:16
Next slide.
35:17
My computer went black there for a moment.
35:21
And so, this is, what you see here is the result of our brainstorming over
35:27
the past month or couple of months.
35:30
These are our ideas and we know that there are a lot
35:34
of other good ideas out there so we’d love to
35:36
hear from you who are on the phone right now or on the computer with us.
35:42
And if there are other folks that you think would be interested
35:45
in this we hope that you would share this.
35:48
So one of the topics, the topic we’re going to start with I think is this nuclear
35:53
renewable hybrid energy system or integrated energy systems.
35:56
Because this has been the topic that we’ve heard in various conversations
36:01
with different countries that that’s something that’s of great interest to a
36:05
lot of people or a lot of countries.
36:07
And then you can see just the whole list there.
36:11
I don’t need to read that for everybody but looking at
36:14
drawing on NEA activities or NEA reports, IEA, the International Energy Agency and
36:22
Clear Path and Third Way have a great idea for that third nuclear reimagined.
36:29
And we are really excited about these but we know that there are other good topics out
36:34
there that others can share with us.
36:38
So we are looking for other new great ideas.
36:42
And the year one set of deliverables that Kio mentioned,
36:48
again that’s from our initial or our draft work plan which is a work in progress.
36:55
So that’s just we’re starting just looking at year
37:00
one.
37:01
See where we get to after that.
37:03
But we’re really looking for some new great big
37:08
thinking out of the box ideas and we are excited and hopeful.
37:13
So just go to the next slide please, the last slide.
37:17
We’ll have time for questions if there are any.
37:19
So here you can just see our contact information and with that
37:26
I will just thank you for your attention, your
37:28
participation.
37:30
And I think turn it back over to Vickie.
37:35
>>Vickie: Great.
37:39
Diane, Kio and Sarah, thank you very much for those great
37:47
presentations.
37:48
They were very informative and gave a great overview of the initiative and
37:52
what’s to come.
37:53
And it’s all very exciting so thank you again for those presentations.
37:57
Real quickly as we shift to the Q&A session I’d just like to remind our audience and
38:03
attendees to please again question, submit your questions using the questions box at
38:09
the right-hand side of your screen.
38:10
And you can do that at any time.
38:12
And again, if you have a question that you would like to direct at
38:16
a specific panelist please make a note of that in
38:20
your comments.
38:21
So a few questions are coming in pretty rapidly here which is great.
38:25
The first question that came in is really around asking about
38:29
some clarity around cross sectional.
38:32
What is meant by that?
38:33
Is the section another technology like wind or solar or is it something
38:37
else?
38:38
And Kio I think you were speaking to that when the question came in.
38:41
So do you mind taking that one?
38:49
Or anyone can answer that.
38:53
>>Sarah: I’m happy to comment on it and my colleagues can join in.
39:00
Cross sectoral I think it has a couple of meanings.
39:05
One cross sectoral across the nuclear industry and
39:11
renewables so there is that cross sectoral.
39:14
But then also looking at technology, policy, nongovernmental, governmental, industry and
39:22
so really broadening the conversation to all the different facets that are related to clean
39:29
energy and nuclear energy.
39:31
So we’re not just talking in our usual networks and our usual
39:37
sort of energy scope types.
39:39
We’re not looking to do R&D in any particular technology.
39:44
So that’s – I’m not sure if that’s what the
39:49
questioner was asking about specifically but its really just breaking down the boundaries
39:55
is the way I see it.
40:00
I hope that helps.
40:02
>>Diane: I’ll just echo that.
40:06
This is Diane from National Resources Canada.
40:11
I’ll just echo that and say that cross sectoral at least
40:17
from government of Canada perspective really speaks to what is unit about CEM.
40:24
So if you look back through the slides you’ll recall the
40:30
list of nuclear fora where we already engage in a series of detailed and valuable
40:37
discussions amongst the nuclear sector and nuclear experts.
40:40
So what’s unique about CEM is this opportunity to engage across sectors,
40:47
Nuclear energy and renewable energy policy makers discussing policy solutions across
40:56
energy sub sectors, that’s something that’s of
40:59
particular interest to us.
41:01
>>Vickie: Great.
41:02
Thank you both for helping to answer that question.
41:09
Another question came in around that.
41:12
Is there a list available about what constitutes a sector or is it not
41:19
really defined into a list?
41:22
>>Sarah: We don’t have – this is Sarah.
41:26
Yea.
41:27
I don’t think we have a specific list of what
41:29
we’re trying to cross between just broadly speaking.
41:33
>>Vickie: Ok.
41:34
Great.
41:35
Thank you.
41:36
Next question that came in.
41:39
Are there – this is more towards the initiative itself.
41:42
Are there any guidelines for instructions for submitting
41:45
proposals to the NICE Future initiative?
41:50
>>Sarah: Yeah.
41:55
One of the slides or two of the slides talk about the proposals.
42:05
I mean we don’t have standard format at this point
42:13
but we just have sort of the guidelines of what
42:17
we’re looking for, that it aligns with the objectives and principles and it targets the
42:22
key audiences and something that, an activity
42:25
that includes all the clean energy stakeholders.
42:30
But we don’t have a template at this point.
42:36
I’m not sure if CEM generally has something like that but we don’t yet.
42:42
>>Diane: It’s really a challenge.
42:45
It’s a challenge to stakeholder organizations, to folks
42:48
who are participating in tonight’s webinar and others to go back to their home
42:55
organizations and think about the strategic objectives that we’re trying to advance
43:00
by bringing nuclear energy to the Clean Energy
43:03
Ministerial process and to clean energy policymakers more broadly and go back to the
43:09
basic principles that we set out.
43:11
We want to provide plain language briefings that challenge
43:14
clean energy policymakers baseline assumptions about what nuclear is and isn’t
43:19
and what the future of nuclear innovation might be able to provide.
43:24
We want to get to the core of economic modeling and market valuation.
43:31
We’re interested in communications products.
43:33
We’re interested in stakeholder engagement.
43:35
It’s a challenge for organizations to go back and
43:39
think about what they might be able to propose, what types of activities or initiatives
43:48
might stakeholder organizations be able to design and drive that could contribute to
43:54
the overall strategic objective.
43:56
And as mentioned before especially if you can bring on board
44:00
some non-nuclear stakeholders in a joint initiative.
44:04
So if you are a representative from an industry association that is deeply
44:10
connected to nuclear or you are with an NGO or a civil society organization, if you bring
44:19
colleagues essentially from across the isle to the table to help these strategic objectives.
44:23
This is our challenge to and if you have ideas for how you’d like to do that and what you
44:29
can contribute we absolutely want to hear from you.
44:32
And we have this opportunity, this unique opportunity to do profiles of those
44:36
activities at the highest level in one of the
44:39
leading international fora on this topic.
44:41
And so, we’re launching the initiative this year in
44:44
Copenhagen but next year in 2019, Canada will host the clean energy ministerial in May
44:50
of 2019 in Vancouver where we will have a great deal of flexibility to give lots of
44:56
profiles to the progress that we were able to make under the NICE Future initiative,
45:00
And we hope that that will include proposals that
45:03
are brought forward, creative proposals that are brought forward from civil society in
45:06
this industry.
45:07
So we don’t have preconceived ideas or constrains on what those ideas, on
45:12
what those initiatives might look like and what those activities might look like.
45:15
It’s a challenge.
45:16
So if you’ve got an idea please don’t be shy.
45:20
>>Vickie: Thanks so much.
45:25
Next question.
45:27
Again, regarding the initiative itself the question is what is the form or the format
45:33
of the interface between the initiatives and the
45:36
ministers in the ministerial?
45:41
>>Diane: I’m happy to take that question as well.
45:47
This is Diane again from Natural Resources Canada.
45:50
So the ministers at the ministerial will formally launch the initiative
45:57
and they will do so on the record during the closed door ministerial session.
46:03
But they will also do so in the launch event.
46:07
And in the launch event we will have ministers from a
46:11
handful of countries, the three lead countries and others.
46:15
We hope to have as many as – well, we definitely know we have nine countries.
46:22
But hopefully by the time May 24th rolls around we will have 13 or more countries
46:29
joining us.
46:30
And so, ministers or heads of delegation from those countries should be
46:34
at the launch event.
46:36
And civil society members and others whoa re speaking at the event [Inaudible]
46:43
and also pose questions to the ministers and to have their interventions
46:49
and in the case of Third Ways have it viewed directly by ministers.
46:55
I hope that got to the heart of the question.
46:59
>>Vickie: Great answer.
47:01
Thanks, Diane.
47:02
That was great.
47:05
Thanks for much.
47:06
Ok.
47:07
Next question that came in is have any of the non-nuclear
47:09
sectors indicated any willingness to engage with the initiative?
47:15
>>Diane: That’s an excellent question.
47:18
This is Diane again and I’ll ask my colleagues here in the US and Japan if they’d like
47:26
a chance as well on the question.
47:27
This is the toughest nut to crack so to speak.
47:32
We are trying to break new ground here.
47:35
As in many policy areas, energy policy is historically
47:40
can be siloed.
47:42
And it is difficult to launch an inter cross sectoral or interdisciplinary
47:55
initiative.
47:56
That is always a difficult challenge.
47:59
So we have designed our outreach to our renewables
48:03
colleagues and we’ve had some modest uptake.
48:06
But there is lots of room to grow on that front for sure.
48:10
>>Sarah: Yes, I would say – this is Sarah.
48:15
I would say we have not really done that outreach yet.
48:19
We have been focusing on just getting the initiative fleshed out.
48:26
And we are obviously just starting with our networks
48:32
that we know of.
48:33
So that’s how we sort of started advertising for this webinar.
48:39
But also, information was sent out through the CEM
48:43
secretariat to try and broaden the information sharing.
48:48
But as of yet we have not – since it hasn’t been launched formally we haven’t
48:54
engaged with the other clean, green energy sectors.
49:00
>>Kiochiro: Kio from Japan.
49:05
For Japan I didn’t, I haven’t yet about like the inviting the
49:10
non-nuclear sector people.
49:12
But like nuclear people have been focusing on the nuclear and
49:18
renewable people in Japan also focusing on renewables, excluding the nuclear.
49:24
But I think the future, in the future I think the
49:27
nuclear and renewables should be collaborated or
49:30
we – as a policy maker we should think about the options and not separated.
49:37
So then we kind of talked with specialists outside the
49:41
government or through study about this kind of
49:44
new field.
49:46
So not yet but we hope to invite like the person, non-nuclear people as well.
49:55
>>Vickie: Great.
49:56
Thanks for all three of you for helping to answer that question.
50:05
Let’s see.
50:06
A few more questions to possibly address in this webinar.
50:09
Let’s see.
50:10
How is nuclear energy considered to be clean?
50:13
Sarah, would you like to take that one?
50:17
>>Sarah: Sure.
50:18
I think this is something that we’ve really been trying to get the word out
50:26
in the office of nuclear energy and we have some great new information on our website.
50:31
And basically, nuclear energy produces around the clock zero emission energy.
50:39
It doesn’t pollute as other fossil, as fossil fuels do.
50:44
And in the US for example nuclear generates 60
50:48
percent of carbon free electricity in our country.
50:51
So in that sense it is clean.
50:54
It doesn’t produce mercury, smog, particulates, nitrogen
50:59
oxide, sulfur oxide and there’s a whole more, a lot more science behind that.
51:06
But I mean that’s the short answer.
51:08
It doesn’t pollute.
51:10
So I guess that’s the short answer.
51:13
Given the time we have I’ll stick with that.
51:18
>>Vickie: Super.
51:20
Thank you.
51:21
Anyone else have anything to add?
51:25
>>Diane: Yes.
51:27
I’d like to add from the perspective of the government of Canada.
51:32
The Clean Energy Ministerial for us was born out
51:35
of the climate change negotiation and is deeply of inextricably linked to our commitment
51:42
when we signed on to the Paris Agreement to curb our emissions and try to
51:49
achieve the [inaudible].
51:50
So from Canada’s perspective the question of climate change
51:54
is core of this question of what we consider to
51:57
be clean energy.
51:59
And so, the fact that it is a non-emitting source of energy is critical in
52:06
our mission to curb emissions.
52:09
Canada would not be able to meet our Paris commitments
52:14
without nuclear energy.
52:15
Right now, I believe the stat is 60 percent, over 60 percent of the electricity in the
52:23
province of Ontario and over 30 percent of electricity in the province of New Brunswick
52:28
are generated by nuclear which is an average of over 15 percent of the electricity in
52:33
Canada.
52:34
Canada is very fortunate to be blessed with hydroelectricity and so upwards of
52:39
80 percent of our national electricity grid is decarbonized already.
52:45
But we would not be able to maintain those levels without nuclear.
52:50
And the province of Ontario is investing $26 billion over the course of ten years to
52:56
extend the life of its nuclear power fleet in
53:00
order to maintain that nuclear capacity which is absolutely critical for us in terms of
53:08
displacement.
53:09
>>Kiochiro: So for Japan like maybe you know before the Fukushima accident we have
53:17
more than 30 percent of the nuclear energy.
53:21
But after that, all of our reactors shut down.
53:24
And gradually some of the reactors restarted but still a low percentage of the nuclear
53:31
we have.
53:32
But we still have 20 to 30 percent of the nuclear resources by 2013.
53:44
And of course, that [inaudible] Paris Agreement and other
53:47
has a goal.
53:49
We need nuclear like them but also, we need some innovation or technological development
53:57
including collaboration between nuclear and other kinds of technology such
54:03
as renewables.
54:04
>>Vickie: Ok.
54:07
Thanks so much.
54:11
I think we have time for one more question before we
54:14
close out the webinar.
54:15
So let’s see.
54:16
The next question that came in is again around a cross
54:21
sectoral.
54:22
What do you think the key obstacles are that prevented cross sectoral
54:29
integrations for clean energy and how are you addressing those obstacles?
54:35
>>Sarah: Sorry, Vickie.
54:38
Could you just repeat the first part of that question?
54:42
>>Vickie: Oh absolutely.
54:43
Yes.
54:44
So what do you believe to be the key obstacles that are
54:49
preventing or have prevented cross sectoral integration for clean energy?
54:53
I’m assuming they’re speaking to renewables in this question
54:57
and how can those obstacles be addressed?
55:03
>>Diane: I can kick off the discussion on this and then turn to my colleagues Sarah
55:11
and Kiochiro.
55:14
From my perspective – again this is Diane.
55:17
It’s about – I think the key challenge is actually about our mental models
55:22
and the way that we have historically gone about organizing ourselves and organizing
55:28
our work and organizing our ideas.
55:29
I think we – it’s easy to think along silos or sectoral
55:36
lines.
55:37
We work within specific organizations or ministries or economic sectors and we have
55:43
well established networks within our areas of
55:47
expertise and we all speak the same language and we all have the same objectives.
55:52
And when you start to reach across sectors or
55:55
across disciplines and you start to – it is just
56:01
simply logistically more challenging.
56:03
It’s about it requires a higher degree of creativity.
56:08
It requires more effort.
56:09
It requires more patience.
56:11
It requires more strategic thinking.
56:14
So I don’t think that there are any fundamental reasons that should prevent us
56:18
from doing this.
56:19
But it is a different way of thinking about our future energy challenges.
56:28
The objective is to look at the full optionality and the objective to break down
56:34
barriers and break down our old mental models and our old ways of thinking about
56:40
things.
56:41
I think that’s our biggest challenge.
56:42
I think we can rise to that challenge but I
56:47
think that’s our biggest challenge.
56:52
>>Vickie: Super.
56:53
Great.
56:54
Thanks so much.
56:55
Anyone else want to take?
56:57
[Crosstalk]
56:58
>>Kiochiro: No.
56:59
No.
57:00
Go ahead.
57:01
>>Sarah: No, no.
57:02
Kio.
57:03
You go ahead.
57:04
>>Kiochiro: So for me personally I am responsible for nuclear and the challenge of
57:13
logistical I feel is like my personal kind of experience.
57:16
I joined like CEM meeting last November.
57:19
I mean like there is, CEM is traditionally only focusing on like non-nuclear
57:26
clean energy sources.
57:28
So I joined a meeting but all members there, sitting there is more
57:33
likely to focusing on the renewables.
57:37
So there is no kind of familiarity with the nuclear.
57:42
And so, this is kind of one simplistic kind of a showcase at not only this government
57:49
level but also like companies or researchers, all
57:53
part of the peoples or organization mainly focusing on a nuclear only nuclear or only
58:02
renewables.
58:03
This is because like for nuclear in the past I mean bigger is better.
58:10
So then like the company utilities or like the manufacturing
58:14
companies the person who is in charge of nuclear is just focusing on nuclear.
58:18
They graduated in nuclear and studying nuclear, doing nuclear, things like that.
58:25
But as Diane mentioned we need to block the barrier
58:31
because future world we need not only focusing on nuclear or not only renewables.
58:36
We need to combine them in order for better electricity
58:40
future.
58:42
>>Sarah: Yeah.
58:45
I would just add one – sorry.
58:53
Ok.
58:54
One last thought is I think one of the obstacles is just information sharing.
58:59
I just mentioned we have these _ types of information and just a lack of understanding.
59:08
People think of nuclear in a certain way and that’s one thing that the Department of
59:13
Energy Offices of Nuclear Energy is really trying
59:15
to change is the way people think about nuclear.
59:19
And people might not think about the negatives that they have heard about in the
59:25
media and things that have happened in the past.
59:28
But that’s not today’s nuclear and I think if we can – I mean the way we overcome
59:37
that obstacle is a sharing of information and having nuclear focused people talking
59:43
to the hybrid energy super folks at our Idaho National
59:52
Laboratory.
59:53
And we’re doing really good work on creating these new energy systems of the future.
59:58
And so, once you start talking about how you can put these together and then you break
60:03
down those stereotypes and say oh, they’re smaller reactors and they’re not necessarily
60:08
these huge mammoth things with the big smoke stacks that everybody thinks of but
60:12
they’re small and they’re safe.
60:15
And I think that’s a really key point that we need to press.
60:19
And I think once you start getting more information out there, that’s how you break down
60:22
those obstacles or the barriers.
60:24
>>Vickie: Yeah.
60:26
Thanks to all of you again for great presentations and also for a very
60:35
informative Q&A session.
60:37
I’d just like the panelists that we did not have time to answer,
60:42
we’ll try to connect you with those attendees offline after the webinar so you have an
60:48
opportunity to address any additional questions that came in.
60:54
And so, with that before we wrap up I’d just like to provide the panelists
60:58
with one last opportunity to offer up any additional closing remarks that you’d like
61:04
to make before we close the webinar.
61:07
>>Sarah: I would just say that we are really excited about this new way of thinking about
61:17
clean energy and I hope that the people that we have talked to at the NEA and Third Way
61:23
and Clear Path and other organizations it seems like now is a great time to really start
61:29
doing something to make this a reality and I’m just really excited about it and I hope
61:34
others are too.
61:36
>>Diane: Couldn’t agree more from the Canadian perspective.
61:44
Thanks everybody.
61:47
>>Vickie: Thanks Diane.
61:50
And so again thank you to our panelists.
61:54
And I’d also like to extend a very hearty thank you to our attendees
61:58
for participating in our webinar today.
62:01
We really appreciate your time and your interest and we hope in return that you gained
62:06
some valuable insights into the initiative that you’ll take away and take back to your
62:12
ministries, your departments, your organizations and your networks.
62:15
So with that I’d just like to say to please enjoy.
62:19
We wish you a great rest of your day wherever you are and we
62:23
hope to see you again at future NICE Future webinars and other events.
62:27
And with that, this concludes our webinar.
62:30
>>Sarah: Thanks Vickie.
62:31
>>Kiochiro: Thank you very much.
62:33
>>Vickie: Thank you.
62:35
Thanks.