July-August 2019 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2019 NuclearPlantJournal.com 23 the forum that we have to recognize that all the parties involved own some of the “blame,” if you like, for the challenges. This issue requires people to come together, communicate, understand what they are trying to do, what the benefits are and understand that things aren’t always perfect, but you’ve got to try. And finally, the parties need to understand the risk of what they’re doing, rather than aiming for perfection all the time. 6. What do you need to create a momentum in United States? How are we going to have the utilities spend the money needed for these modifications? What we’re finding is that utilities face cost pressures, and they are looking to deploy technology but they have to spend money to deploy. There is a huge potential for innovative technologies and processes to reduce costs and if utilities can spend the capital upfront, it is paying back as reduced O&M costs year after year after year. The evidence is there – it’s really a good business decision to invest in technology for repeat, year-after- year savings. And utilities are investing in technology, provided they have the certainty that it will be accepted by regulators and it will be successful. It’s a very interesting global trend we’re seeing in the industry now where the status quo is being disrupted from those who are embracing technology and deploying it. 7. How can the utilities be motivated to spend the additional resources despite the challenges? They’ll be motivated if they’re in a business to sustain their operations. Provided they see a net positive value on the investment, they will do it. What they need is clarity on what the technologies are and how to deploy them – that goes to the better communication we mentioned – and assurance on the reduction in the risk in that expenditure. Now bigger picture, and one of the other take-aways from this forum, which the whole industry is talking about more and more now, is that you cannot credibly get to addressing climate change without nuclear. IAEA said recently that nuclear is going to be key to addressing climate change. There’s a big vision that keeping nuclear as an option is important. The industry is really rallying around that, but they need clear objectives, better communication, and a better culture to determine and foster which technical options to deploy. 8. How can the nuclear power industry stay on a growth path? The way to address climate change is to increase the amount of energy transferred to electricity and then address how the electricity is produced. The challenge for the nuclear industry is it’s about 11%of global electricityproduction. How does nuclear stay at 11% or more? In a world where electricity generation is significantly higher, suddenly being on a declining path is not the right trajectory. 9. What was the conclusion of the technical discussions at the forum? Everyone echoed that the industry is faced with a need to change. One big picture take-away was that there are tremendous opportunities to learn from outside industries that have successfully deployed these technologies, which can potentially mitigate risks of deployment in nuclear plants. The four innovations that were prioritized weren’t necessarily huge surprises, and in some of those cases, other industries are also way This infographic, drawn live during the forum, captures the highlights of the 4 innovations that attendees of the Global Forum prioritized to help address technological and process challenges facing the sustainability of nuclear power generation. ahead of nuclear. Nuclear can learn from them. And just as importantly as those four innovations may be, the forum also brought to light the very real need for the industry to create a culture of innovation where communication flows top to bottom, across utilities, suppliers, researchers and regulators alike. 10. Concluding remarks? This was an important meeting for all in attendance, including our co-organizers at the IAEA, NEA, UK National Nuclear Lab and host KHNP. Now the real work begins to accelerate the deployment of those innovations, and keep the momentum going. We’re working now with the IAEA, NEA, and NNL to create collaboration groups based on attendees who volunteered to pursue actions on the innovations they prioritized. We’re also following up with chairpersons from our discussions to see what can be done on some bigger picture take-aways. All of this is leading up to a second global forum in the UK in 2020. The secret to progress is going to be the follow-up between these forums. We’ve really started something, we just need to keep momentum going. For more information or to inquire about the global forum, email globalforum@epri.com , or visit https:// www.globalnuclearinnovation.com/