Podcast: World Nuclear Performance Report, and The Nuclear Company's plans
Cobb, senior programme lead, climate, at World Nuclear Association, says that a 1% increase in average capacity factor of reactors to 81.5% helped global nuclear electricity generation increase in 2023 to 2600 TWh despite a 1 GWe drop in overall capacity to 392 GWe.
There were 437 reactors in operation at the end of 2023 - the same as at the end of 2022 - with five reactors shutting down (Belgium's Tihange 2, Taiwan's Kuosheng 2 and Germany's Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2) and five being connected to the grid (China's Fangchenggang 3, Slovakia's Mochovce 3, USA's Vogtle 3, Belarus's Ostrovets 2 and South Korea's Shin-Hanul 2) during the year.
Cobb says nuclear reactors are supplying the world with low carbon electricity, and the slight fall in the overall capacity "makes no sense in a world that is trying to decarbonise and maintain reliable supplies - if people are serious about a whole range of energy policy objectives there needs to be a bigger programme of construction and it neeeds to start soon".
Someone hoping to help enable large-scale nuclear construction is Juliann Edwards, chief development officer at start-up The Nuclear Company. She joins host Alex Hunt to explain the company's goal of getting fleet-scale nuclear energy projects up and running in the USA, and considers what technology and sites they might they select.
Edwards, who is also chair of US Women in Nuclear, talks as well about the initiatives and progress made in improving the gender balance and wider diversity within the nuclear workforce.
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Episode credit: Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production
