New Nuclear Energy Initiative Announced

May 24, 2018 — A new partnership addressing the role of nuclear technologies in clean energy systems was announced at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the end of May. The Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative aims to highlight the value of nuclear energy as a clean, reliable energy source in both electric and nonelectric sectors. The initiative is led by the United States, Canada, and Japan, with participation by Argentina, Poland, Romania, Russia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

The NICE Future initiative will engage policy makers, industry, and other stakeholders to identify roles for innovative nuclear technologies, assess emerging applications such as integrated nuclear-renewables systems, and support an international exchange of enabling policy and financing strategies. Focus areas include combined heat and power applications, hydrogen production, and industrial decarbonization. The initiative will highlight the opportunities for nuclear energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution from power generation, industry and end-use sectors.

JISEA has addressed some of these topics as part of its investigation of potential synergies between nuclear and renewable energy, including the economic potential of nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems, hydrogen production, and providing thermal energy to industry. JISEA also convened a workshop on Nuclear and Renewable Energy Synergies in 2011.

NICE Future is working with Women in Nuclear and International Youth Nuclear Congress, and is launching a webinar series that will provide overviews of technical research, economic analysis, policy updates, and case studies of innovative technologies and applications.

NREL and its institutional affiliate, the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), are an operating agent for NICE Future in addition to two other CEM initiatives: the Clean Energy Solutions Center (NREL) and the 21st Century Power Partnership (NREL and JISEA). See the NICE Future initiative overview and the CEM press release. Join the July 12 webinar: Technology Overview for Coordinated Nuclear – Renewable Energy Systems.