The World Nuclear Fuel Cycle (WNFC) 2024

As the conference began, World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León addressed the delegates, stating, “Nuclear energy was formally specified as one of the solutions to climate change in a COP agreement for the first time in December 2023, and a multinational ministerial declaration has committed to a tripling of nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The industry is pivoting to deliver these objectives”.

“Tripling nuclear by 2050 is going to be a challenge”, said World Nuclear Association Chairman Bohdan Zronek and he added: “There are opportunities for growth at all levels of the value chain, starting of course for the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle,”. “We can start from the mining, then conversion, enrichment and continuing with the fuel fabrication. To meet the expectations, we are going to need to expand our capabilities in these areas of the nuclear fuel cycle. This also includes making the most of innovation and investing in new technologies and products … that are going to accelerate growth and will allow us to operate our units more effectively and safely.”