ABU DHABI: Global nuclear energy experts and leaders will gather in Abu Dhabi on Monday for the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century.
The three-day conference convenes every four years and will discuss trends, challenges and opportunities in developing peaceful nuclear energy and would raise awareness of the nuclear energy as an important and credible energy source for future generations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) will organise the conference, which is being hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry.
Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the IAEA and president of the conference, said: “This will be an excellent opportunity for the global nuclear sector to emphasise the contribution of nuclear power and analyse new developments and trends related to nuclear energy. We will discuss innovation in nuclear technology and the necessity to adopt diverse energy portfolio where nuclear energy plays an important role.”
The conference will also address the importance of international cooperation that is required to develop capacity for sustainable management of nuclear power in a growing number of countries. “We also look forward to highlighting the strong UAE-IAEA successful partnership,” he said.
Yukiya Amano, director-general of the IAEA, said: “In order to meet the world’s growing energy needs in future, we will need to make optimal use of all sources of energy available. It is clear that renewables such as wind and solar power will play an increasingly important role.”
However, more use of nuclear power will be needed to provide the steady supply of baseload electricity to power modern economies if countries are to meet the goals for greenhouse gas emissions which they set for themselves in the Paris Agreement, Amano said.