Nuclear energy ministerial conference in Saint Petersburg in June

An international ministerial conference Nuclear Power in the 21st Century will take place in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 27-29 June. The forum will be organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency in association with the Russian government and with support of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, BelTA learned from Rosatom’s representatives.

The conference is expected to sum up results and discuss the role of nuclear energy in alleviating climate change consequences at the level of ministers and international experts. The conference will also table the satisfaction of the growing global demand for electricity.

Experts said that after the Fukushima emergency the growth of nuclear power generation continued all over the world as predicted by the IAEA although at a slower pace than expected. Although the Fukushima events rendered certain negative impact on the general public’s attitude to nuclear power engineering across the globe, the majority of the countries that operate nuclear stations or plan to build their first ones have said that the plans will be implemented.

The growing global demand for energy, concerns over the state of the environment, including climate changes, fluctuating prices for fossil fuels, and the need to ensure energy independence influence the interest in nuclear power engineering and are taken into account by nations in their energy planning, experts underline.

The conference in Saint Petersburg will allow discussing the state and prospects of nuclear power engineering in the future, taking into account nuclear safety as the mandatory condition for the existence of nuclear power generation as well as technical aspects relevant for the nuclear energy industry development.

The forum will feature plenary sessions, during which national reports will be delivered, as well as technical sessions, presentations and roundtable sessions involving internationally recognized experts. The conference is expected to feature technical sessions focused on power engineering and environment, nuclear safety and the role of international cooperation in securing it, the infrastructure and technologies for institutional development, drivers for the deployment of sustainable and innovation development technologies.

Earlier such conferences were held in Paris, France in March 2005 and in Beijing, China in April 2009.