Senior executives from major nuclear equipment manufacturers, as well as high-ranking representatives from international nuclear organizations and from several nuclear power plant operators, were among the speakers of the joint IENE/ROEC conference on "The Nuclear Option for SE Europe”, that took place in Bucharest, Romania, on May 6, 2015Senior executives from major nuclear equipment manufacturers, as well as high-ranking representatives from international nuclear organizations and from several nuclear power plant operators, were among the speakers of the joint IENE/ROEC conference on "The Nuclear Option for SE Europe”, that took place in Bucharest, Romania, on May 6, 2015.
Central to the theme of the conference were the challenges and opportunities for nuclear power generation in SE Europe in view of the current debate on EU energy security and latest international energy developments. Many European countries, with some of them belonging to SE Europe and its broader region - such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Turkey - are building or planning to build new nuclear power plants.
Mr. David Hu Zhuo, Assistant General Director of China’s General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), the president of Belgium’s Westinghouse, Mr. Yves Brachet, and Mr. John Saroudis, Regional Vice President of Canada’s SNC Candu Energy Inc. spoke on latest nuclear projects in the region and discussed their investment and implementation policies. Additionally, Mr. Ayhan Evrensel, Senior Communication Adviser at the Office of the Deputy Director General (Department of Nuclear Energy), representing the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), analyzed legal, safety and regulatory issues, whereas Dr. Theodor Chirica, Chief Executive Officer of EnergoNuclear and Executive Board Member of the European Atomic Forum (FORATOM), presented the views of the Brussels -based industry association for the nuclear power sector.
It should be noted that representatives from 8 different countries, i.e. Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, participated in this regional event, with some 16 contributing authors.
Other speakers of this one-day conference included Mr. Cantemir Ciurea, the Regulator for Nuclear Activities in Romania, Ms.Elena Popescu, General Director of Energy and Environment Department, Ministry of Energy and SMEs, Romania, Ms. Daniela Lulache CEO of Nuclearelectrica, Romania, Mr. Mladen Mitev, President, Bulgarian Nuclear Association, Bulgaria, Mr. Pal Kovacs, Advisor to CEO, Former State Secretary for Energy Affairs, Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd., Hungary, Mr. Liviu Gherghe, Senior Director, Elcomex IEA, Romatom, Romania, Ms. Mihaela Stiopol, President, Romanian Nuclear Energy Association - AREN, Romania, Prof. Dr. Osman Sevaioglu, Dpt. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Tech. University, Ankara, Turkey, Dr. Ionut Purica, Executive Director of the Advisory Center for Energy and Environment, Romanian Academy, and Mr. Nicholas Sofianos, Research Projects Co-ordinator at the Institute of Energy for SE Europe IENE, Greece.
Summarizing the findings of the conference, IENE’s Executive Director, Mr. Costis Stambolis, underlined the following:
·Over the past decades in the geographical area of SE Europe, nuclear power generation has proved that it can be an integral, cost effective, safe and strategic component of the energy mix, and more specifically of the electricity mix as it has been clearly demonstrating in some countries in the region including Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia.
·There are ample margins in the energy system of most countries in SE Europe and beyond, for further nuclear power generation and an increase of its stake in the overall energy mix.
·Most speakers agreed that nuclear power is the best available option for promoting RES since it provides much needed base load which can only be beneficial for large scales RES development. In this context nuclear power has a strategic role to play in strengthening the energy security of the region and minimizing its dependence on imported coal, oil and gas.
·The nuclear option is the only reliable and predictable way, in conjunction with other clean fuels, in mitigating climate change fears and taking positive and immediate action for preventing further environmental degradation.
In his concluding remarks, IENE’s Executive Director thanked Ms. Eugenia Gusilov, Director of ROEC (Romania Energy Center) for her active support and excellent co-operation in organizing this important regional energy event.
Romania’s Nuclearelectrica was the conference’s supporter, while media partners included the Energia.gr and See News portal.
