Experts join IAEA-Nucleareurope Technical Meeting on Developing a Sustainable Nuclear Supply Chain for Near Deployment Reactors
On 10 - 12 December, World Nuclear Association programme leads for Supply Chain and Safety & Licensing, Nathan Paterson and Ronan Tanguy participated in the Nucleareurope - IAEA joint event on developing a sustainable nuclear supply chain for near deployment reactors. Here they showcased the work done in key policy areas by the Association and its members.
Nathan Paterson underscored the strategic importance of strengthening the global nuclear supply chain to meet ambitious growth targets and ensure secure, low-carbon energy for decades to come. With the sector poised to mobilize several trillion US dollars in investment over the next 25 years — enabling the construction of over 1,000 GW of new capacity and extending the long-term operation of existing plants — to achieve the industry’s goal of tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. This is no small feat, requiring industry to deliver an annual supply at four times the current levels.
To realize these objectives, Paterson emphasized the need for enhanced collaboration, transparent communication of future supplier demand needs, and strategic alignment among all participants in the supply chain to tackle common challenges and enhance opportunities. Fostering a business environment where suppliers are engaged early can reduce project delays and build a shared foundation of trust and reliability. Balancing localized sourcing with a more globally integrated supply base is essential for the step change needed in the fleet build outs, ensuring timely availability of critical components, leveraging regional expertise, and promoting resilience by mitigating risks associated with single-source dependencies.
Recognizing these imperatives, World Nuclear Association is driving clear demand signaling through initiatives such as its forthcoming World Nuclear Supply Chain 2025 conference in Warsaw, Poland, on May 20–21. By connecting developers, suppliers, and others across the value chain, the event aims to catalyze greater alignment, more effective procurement planning, and a more agile, robust supply chain. These efforts will help secure the timely and cost-effective delivery of new nuclear projects, reinforce confidence among financiers and policymakers, and ultimately pave the way for a cleaner, more reliable energy future.
Word Nuclear Association is also leading work within the IAEA’s Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative on nuclear codes and standards, through Tanguy’s Safety & Licensing area. The work aims to highlight these differences in scope and determine where equivalencies could lie across engineering disciplines, using a methodology established in previous World Nuclear Association publications. These are engineering rules for the design of nuclear power plant structures, systems and components. The rules, their scope and acceptability vary between countries, this variety can result in a fragmented supply chain and re-design work when reactors are exported. This work and its significance are featured in a two-page paper published by the IAEA, the most recent deliverable from the NHSI Industry Track 2.
Commenting on the NHSI Industry Track 2 publication, the Association’s Director General Dr Sama Bilbao y Leon said: "World Nuclear Association has led on understanding differences and equivalencies in nuclear codes and standards in contribution to the IAEA NHSI Industry Track 2. This is part of the Association’s wider work on the essential streamlining of nuclear regulation and design required to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear. If the global nuclear industry and indeed the world are to reach the goal of tripling nuclear capacity by 2050, then it will require a stronger and more internationally harmonized supply chain that will serially manufacture components for standardized nuclear power plants worldwide."
The paper is available on IAEA’s website, along with their own webstory here.
Earlier this year we hosted the CORDEL Workshop Korea 2024 in Busan, which brought together industry, regulators and government officials to discuss how the nuclear sector must act jointly to deliver the tripling of nuclear capacity and take advantage of the window of opportunity that nuclear currently enjoys.
Next year will be the first edition of World Nuclear Supply Chain, in Warsaw, Poland 20-21 May.