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Weekly News Roundup – Monday 8th March

We round up the past week’s news and updates from the world of Nuclear.

Workshop examines nuclear opportunities beyond electricity, by World Nuclear News: “Decarbonising the power sector will not be enough on its own to reach climate goals, a joint high-level workshop held by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency heard yesterday. Applications of nuclear beyond power generation, including the production of low-carbon heat, hydrogen or other synthetic fuels, could significantly expand market opportunities for nuclear power and are especially relevant to achieving global net-zero emissions.”

A nuclear frontier, by The Hill: “In October, the government announced the development of two new advanced reactors, X-Energy and TerraPower, funded through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which was created by a bipartisan funding bill in the 115th Congress. This was a moonshot goal to bring advanced nuclear technology to market, and it went from an idea to reality within four years. The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would accelerate these developments and encourage public-private partnerships to bring advanced nuclear technology to market. We could pass it into law right now.”

Hungary and Poland plan nuclear to replace coal, by World Nuclear News: “Hungary is now the sixth European country to bring forward its coal phaseout plan, announcing that it will shut its last remaining coal plant in 2025. Meanwhile Poland says its first nuclear power unit will be built in Gdansk and the second one probably at the site of its Belchatów coal plant.”

Why Hydrogen Needs Nuclear Power To Succeed, by oilprice.com: “For carbon-free hydrogen to play a significant role in decarbonization, it will need to be produced in large quantities at low cost to compete with hydrocarbons. In a future power system heavily dependent on intermittent renewables, hydrogen will likely find economical use in power storage for grid balancing. However, for an actual ‘hydrogen economy’ to arise, hydrogen will have to expand into the so-called ‘hard to abate’ sectors where a large portion of carbon emissions occur.”

Germany Settles Nuclear Phaseout Legal Disputes for $2.9B, by Green Tech Media: “The German government has agreed to a multibillion-euro compensation deal with major utility firms on Friday over its ongoing nuclear energy phaseout… In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the German government closed down eight reactors and announced all the nation’s nuclear power would close by 2022. This was earlier than then planned but in line with the previous government’s schedule, as agreed to in 2002.”