Check against delivery.
Thank you very much and a warm welcome to you all also from me.
Dear Vice-Minister,
Dear Bill, Colleagues, Friends all,
And thank you in particular to the Government of Korea for co-hosting this event today.
This Conference is a valuable platform – to share experiences and best practices on delivering new nuclear construction at the scale and the pace required in order to help meet global energy needs in a way that is also consistent with our climate objectives under the Paris Agreement.
Nuclear energy is once again being recognised as a key, cost-effective pillar in our efforts to strengthen energy security, while meeting our climate objectives, while also ensuring competitiveness and boosting further development and growth – given how central, reliable and affordable supplies of energy are to economic competitiveness of economies around the world.
Following the most recent COPs in Dubai and Baku, as you all know I’m sure – thirty-one countries have now committed to tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050, with some, including the United States and the United Kingdom, in fact aiming to quadrupling it.
This is a very positive step towards the tripling of global installed nuclear capacity by 2050, which is needed to meet our net zero emissions targets.
To achieve this ambitious expansion, governments need the right policy frameworks to move from ambition to action to outcomes,
Ensuring stable, predictable policies and a level playing field relative to other forms of energy generation.
Strengthening cooperation among regulators to safeguard safety and the environment,
Harnessing private investment and innovation,
Harmonising licensing, project assessments and regulatory oversight to reduce delays, lower compliance costs, and facilitate cross-border collaboration, and
Of course, very importantly, growing the skilled workforce needed to deliver and operate that increased new nuclear capacity.
We are proud to have the Nuclear Energy Agency as a specialised intergovernmental agency within the OECD, designed to enhance international co-operation in nuclear energy to scale finance, diversify supply chains and support workforce development.
Through the Roadmaps to New Nuclear initiative, led by the OECD and the Nuclear Energy Agency, the discussions between governments and industry at this Conference will be transformed into concrete partnerships and actionable outcomes-focused solutions.
First, by unlocking private capital through better risk-sharing.
Capital costs for nuclear new build projects can be substantially lowered if the different risks such as construction risk or price risk are properly understood, optimally managed and fairly allocated.
Governments have important roles to play in ensuring optimal risk management and by becoming involved as project participants, in cases where they judge that private actors are not in a position to realise the full value of a nuclear power project.
The NEA’s report on “Effective Frameworks and Strategies for Financing Nuclear New Build” highlights that importance of de-risking nuclear construction to lower the cost of capital and unlock private investment, for example, using targeted public finance and risk-sharing tools such as loan guarantees and sovereign backing.
Second, by ensuring sound regulatory processes.
Predictable, efficient regulatory processes help reduce potential delays, avoid scope creep, and lower contingency costs―all essential elements to attract project financing and deliver nuclear projects on time and on budget.
Streamlined licensing is also key to encouraging innovation, such as the deployment of factory-built small modular reactors.
Third, by building reliable, transparent, and efficient nuclear energy supply chains.
Tripling nuclear energy capacity will require new investment in the supply chain – raising specific challenges that will require international co-operation to address them as effectively as possible.
The NEA Working Group on Supply Chain fosters cooperation among regulators, utilities, and suppliers to address challenges such as vendor oversight, quality assurance, counterfeit and suspect items, and the integration of new technologies.
NEA workshops have also brought together international experts to exchange best practices on industry standards, strategies for small modular reactor supply chain coordination, and improved quality delivery – helping to ensure that nuclear energy supply chains remain reliable, efficient, and fit for the net-zero transition.
Fourth, and very importantly, by investing in people.
A thriving nuclear sector depends on a highly skilled workforce.
An OECD-NEA study found that a single gigawatt of nuclear generating capacity (roughly the size of one large reactor) requires about 200 000 labour years across its full lifecycle — that is from design and construction, through operation and maintenance, to decommissioning and waste management.
There is significant untapped potential when it comes to investing in our people and making sure that we have the skilled workforce that we require for the future – and that is focusing on the untapped potential to draw more women into the workforce of the nuclear industry.
In fact, women comprise only 25% of the nuclear workforce, and only 18% of senior leadership roles in the sector.
And too few students —especially girls — are entering related science and engineering fields.
And it is great to see so many young women as part of the line-up of Young Professionals over there, so it seems to me the future is bright if that line up is any indication.
But I think more general there is quite a bit more work to be done.
The OECD Recommendation on Improving the Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector, which we adopted in 2023, provides a roadmap for attracting, retaining and advancing women in nuclear professions – grounded in NEA data and country experience.
Fifth, by enhancing access in developing economies to nuclear energy through development finance and technical assistance.
Electricity demand in developing countries is expected to more than double by 2035, which would require more than doubling today's annual investment of USD 280 billion in generation, grids and storage.
The new “Common Journey” initiative, led jointly by the NEA and our Development Centre, aims to support efforts in African countries exploring nuclear energy as part of their clean energy mix.
By connecting NEA members with African partners, we are fostering an enabling environment for technical cooperation, knowledge and best practices sharing, workforce development and long-term sustainability.
In closing,
Delivering the increased nuclear capacity the world needs, depends on predictable policies, sound policy frameworks, resilient supply chains, and a skilled, workforce, supported by strong public-private partnerships and international co-operation.
Over the next two days, you will have the opportunity to engage in challenging and solution-oriented discussions, to shape practical ways forward on the co-ordination and deployment required to revitalise the global nuclear sector at this time,
Ensuring that nuclear can reach its full potential in serving our energy security, our economic objectives and indeed our climate objectives.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to make some opening remarks, and my very best wishes for positive and productive discussions over these next two days.
Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to preserve individual liberty and improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.