The IX International Forum ATOMEXPO 2017 winded up on June 21 in Gostiny dvor (Moscow). This year its theme was “Nuclear Technologies: Safety, Ecology, Stability”.
Proven as one of the key events in the world’s nuclear industry, the Forum made several records this year. It renewed the record of attendees: 6,500 attendees from 65 world countries representing more than 650 companies registered to the event. Thirty three countries were represented by official governmental delegations.
The event participants discussed the place of nuclear generation in future carbon-free energy. It was noted that today to make a stable and safe energy mix, countries need to combine different clean generation sources. Most of plenary and some round-table speakers who dwell on the main theme of the Forum were equally of the opinion that the share of nuclear in the world’s energy mix would grow: NPPs have all chances to become a reliable source of baseline generation and, in this capacity, intrinsic part of carbon-free energy.
A feature of ATOMEXPO 2017 was an increased attention to green energy issues. At the plenary session First Deputy Head of Administration of the President of Russia and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ROSATOM Sergey Kirienko reminded that the Paris Agreement (on climate) of 2015 supposed that the share of clean energy in the world’s energy mix should be increased from current 30% up to 80% over 30 years. “This is a large-scale task the world’s nuclear industry is facing,” Kirienko said. He stressed that while moving to green energy and creating carbon-free energy mix we should base ‘on chime of nuclear as a baseline, stable and clean source of generation and other renewables’.
Other plenary participants agreed that in foreseeable future there cannot be completion between nuclear power and power engineering based on renewables, i.e. wind, solar radiation and water flow. “All types of clean energy need development and support. The way the green energy develops now pose no anxiety, just otherwise, we consider that both nuclear power and renewables develop insufficiently. To speed up nuclear power development in the world, the large nuclear market players have to join their efforts and work together to raise demand for nuclear technologies,” ROSATOM’s head Alexei Likhachev said. This point was shared by other Forum’s guests. Daniel Verwaerde, General Administrator, Atomic Energie & Alternative Energies Commission, France, said, in particular that there was no need to seek for discrepancy between renewables and other energy sources, they can work in a bundle.