World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising and Chairman Kirill Komarov have written to the London-headquartered organisation's members to describe their vision for the future of the nuclear industry following the coronavirus pandemic.

"Dear Member, We write to you in what can only be described as uniquely challenging times, to thank you for the crucial work you do to keep nuclear power online and in development around the world. We praise your efforts and the dedication of your people and we will continue to provide you with any support we may offer."

Nuclear power has responded to the call to action in the public health crisis that each and every one of us is facing, writes World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising.

"At this time more than ever we need to be able to rely on electricity supply. The huge efforts of medical staff worldwide depend on the ventilators, the monitors and all the other electrical equipment that is proving so vital to giving people the chance to recover from this disease."

Leading the World Association of Nuclear Operators at a time when respect is growing for nuclear energy as a reliable and low-carbon source of electricity is an exciting prospect, its new CEO and chairman, respectively, Ingemar Engkvist and Tom Mitchell, said in an interview with World Nuclear News. Speaking at the organisation's London headquarters recently, they said their enthusiasm in leading WANO into its fourth decade reflects not only their passion for the industry but also their optimism about its future.

The nuclear industry cannot assume that the words and phrases it commonly understands as scientific or engineering terms have positive connotations for the public, writes Neil Alexander, principal consultant at Bucephalus Consulting.

"We have all heard that a picture paints a thousand words. This should not be surprising because our mind was always designed to handle images, the face of our mother, the outline of a lion in the savannah, the route from our cave to the berry bush. Images have always been essential to our survival and are bound to be powerful.

Less appreciated is the power of words to create mental pictures and how that affects perceptions of nuclear power."

The main challenges facing the nuclear industry are not in the production and delivery of electricity, but in securing the policy support required for it to expand its contribution of sustainable and low-carbon energy. This was the message of Philippe Costes, senior advisor at World Nuclear Assocation, to delegates at the Nuclear Power Plants Expo & Summit in Istanbul this week. "Nuclear energy has a vital role to play in a global sustainable energy mix, which must first of all meet the world's growing need for electricity. Over the next 30 years, the global population will rise towards nine billion, the global economy will continue to grow and technological developments will create greater demand for electricity. There is an underlying need for dispatchable electricity. We live in a world that requires a 24/7 supply of electricity and nuclear is uniquely placed to provide this."

Shutting down the Fessenheim nuclear power plant will lead to additional emissions and the loss of thousands of jobs, writes Valérie Faudon, general delegate of the French Nuclear Energy Society.

Regulators must explore the possibility of harmonising international requirements for advanced and small modular reactor design evaluation and licensing, says Rumina Velshi, CNSC president and CEO.

Australia has three electricity futures - coal, nuclear or chaos. It's time to bring Australia into the 21st century by aggressively embracing the nuclear one, writes Terry McCrann, business columnist with The Australian newspaper.

The prime minister's thought bubble that a future could be crafted out of some hybrid mix of gas generation and so-called renewables is an embarrassingly inefficient and unworkable dead-end. The idea that we could go all renewables - with assorted batteries from the Tesla version in South Australia to the Turnbull one in the Snowy included - is a fantasy; it would be the embracing of the third future: chaos.

Developing countries are unable to enjoy the benefits of nuclear power owing to a lack of involvement from development finance institutions, but small modular reactors may provide the key, write Elina Teplinsky and Sid Fowler of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

Over the next decade, the world faces two significant interrelated challenges. First, developing countries must increase electric generation to provide their citizens with access to affordable, reliable energy. Second, all nations face the urgent need to rapidly and dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

As the United Arab Emirates' Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UAE Special Representative for International Nuclear Cooperation, I am proud to have been given the opportunity to engage with responsible nations around the world for the promotion of peaceful nuclear energy, writes Hamad Alkaabi.

Sweden has been a great nation for many decades thanks, not to military might nor financial muscle, but to its energy policy. A leader in sustainable development, the country undeniably proved that it is possible to cut emissions dramatically and increase living standards. And it proved this long before climate change became the political issue it is today, write Agneta Rising and John Lindberg, respectively, director general and writer & analyst at World Nuclear Association.

A spike in New Jersey's carbon pollution following the closure of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in 2018 has exacerbated the challenge of addressing climate change, Carol M Browner wrote in an OpEd published on 3 January by NJ Spotlight. To achieve our climate goals, we must preserve existing nuclear plants, she said.