Australia currently does not have an active nuclear programme but operates several research reactors. The country has almost one-third of the world’s proven uranium reserves, and actively mine and export uranium for nuclear fuel. This represents about 10% of global supply and makes Australia the 3rd largest uranium producer.

In recent years, a number of inquiries have been undertaken into nuclear issues in Australia. The Australian Parliament House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Energy held an inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia and reported its findings last December. The New South Wales (NSW) Parliament conducted an inquiry into uranium mining and the potential of nuclear power in NSW, with the report tabled in March this year. The Victorian Parliament also has an inquiry into nuclear prohibition earlier this year. South Australia held a Royal Commission in 2015 and 2016 into expanding its nuclear industry.

Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources including coal, oil, natural gas and uranium. Kazakhstan has 11% of the world’s uranium resources and in 2019 produced about 22,808 tU. It has been the world’s leading uranium producer since 2009, with a 43% share of world production in 2019.

In spite of this, the country is currently dependent upon fossil fuels for power generation. Coal represents around half of Kazakhstan’s energy mix (50% in 2018), followed by oil and natural gas (both with 25% shares). In May 2013, the Green Economy Concept was adopted, setting the ambitious target of 50% electricity generation from sources other than coal or oil, including gas, nuclear and renewable energy, by 2050.

The decision to build a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan has been considered by the government to help diversify the country’s energy supplies. In 2006, Kazakhstan launched an exploratory project to identify the pros and cons of constructing a nuclear plant.

India aims to achieve the target of 22,480 MW by 2030-31. Currently, the installed capacity of nuclear power in the country is 6780 MW. India aims to supply 25% of total electricity from #nuclear power by 2050.

This webinar will provide participants with:

– An overview of the Indian nuclear market
– Potential opportunities for nuclear supply chain
– Insights from key nuclear energy players on implementable plans to achieve India’s nuclear energy targets

Indonesia has recently revived its interest in adding nuclear energy to its energy mix to meet its fast growing electricity needs. Southeast Asia’s largest economy and a population of 260 million, currently has three research-scale nuclear reactors in the country with a combined capacity of around 30 MW.

Of Indonesia’s 69 gigawatts of installed capacity, coal still leads at 60%, followed by gas at 23%, fuel oil at 4% and the remaining from hydro and geothermal.

The Philippines has recently proposed reviving plans for nuclear energy with the government is taking further steps to forward its action plan on adopting nuclear energy as a new power source.

Philippines’ Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the Philippines is “openly considering” the feasibility of introducing nuclear power as a means of addressing its energy security and energy equity With a fast growing economy, the Philippines’ demand for energy is expected to triple by 2040.

The Philippines has sought the IAEA assistance to review the country’s readiness on fully embarking on a nuclear energy program and the IAEA conducted the first phase of the country’s integrated review of its nuclear infrastructure in December 2018.

The final report was delivered to the Secretary of Energy of the Philippines last October in Manila.

The South African energy supply is dominated by coal which constituted 69% of the primary energy supply in 2016, followed by crude oil with 14% and renewables with 11%. Nuclear contributed 3% while natural gas contributed 3% to the total primary supply during the same period. The primary energy supply in this case includes indigenous production and imported sources less exported quantities.

South Africa’s energy ministry in June began consultations with industry on preparations for a proposed 2,500 Mw nuclear power plant building programme. Known as a Request for Information, the objective is to get some idea of the cost, possible ownership structures, cost recovery, the end-user cost and sustainability of the nuclear programme.

Koeberg nuclear power station is the only nuclear power station in South Africa and contains two 900 Mw uranium pressurized water reactors.

Ghana is the second economy of the ECOWAS region with a GDP of 66.98 billion USD (2019).

The country currently generates 17,76 TWh, 59.2% from fossil fuel and 40.8% from hydro and has over 4,990MW (2019) of installed generation capacity, This excludes about 180MW of embedded generation.

The government wants to triple the country’s electricity production in 15 years, mainly through clean energy sources such as nuclear power. Ghana has shown interest in all types of reactors, including Small Modular Reactors as they are aiming for a capacity in the range of 700 MW – 1,200MW.

A new company called “Nuclear Power Ghana” has been constituted as a Special Purpose Vehicle to oversee the full implementation of the program. By establishing the NPG, the country had completed phase one of its nuclear power program and can proceed to phase two the implementation stage.

Following this step, the government has released funding to support the site selection process for a nuclear power plant. Ghana is expecting the start of construction by 2023.

Uganda’s electricity mix is constituted mainly from hydro 645MW and thermal of 101.5MW with an installed capacity 947MW. Uganda has launched the “Vision 2040” aiming to attain universal access to electricity by then.

Uganda plans to produce up to 30,000MW of electricity from its uranium by 2026. The government has completed pre-feasibility studies for a 2000 MW nuclear power projects. The government wants Uganda to think of nuclear power because all the hydropower plants being constructed or soon to be constructed along river Nile will not be enough.

Nigeria current electricity generation capacity is about 8,300 MW. Nigeria energy consumption in 2018 is mainly composed of gas-fired power (85%) and hydropower (15%). The government has an ambitious target of providing universal access by 2030, to realize this objective a massive investment in the energy sector must be done; currently, they are eyeing renewables and nuclear to achieve this goal.

The country has concrete plans on erecting its first nuclear plant by mid-2020’s but is still putting logistics in place to make this a reality. The government has set a target of generating 4,800 MW from nuclear between 2025 and 2028. To reach that objective Nigeria already started the process to acquire nuclear technology. The potential sites chosen by the government to host the NPPs are Itu in Cross River and Geregu in Benue.

Jordan’s current electricity generation capacity is about 3,366 MW. Jordan energy consumption in 2018 is mainly composed of Crude Oil and Products (54%), Natural gas (35%), Renewables (8%), and Coal (3%). The Hashemite kingdom imports over 95% of its energy which burdens the trade balance and accounts for about 20% of its GDP. Therefore, the need for a reliable source of energy such as nuclear is clear and the government is seriously considering the matter.

In 2007 the Jordan Committee for Nuclear Strategy indicated that by 2030 Jordan should generate 30% of its electricity from nuclear. The same year, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and the Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission (JNRC) were established.

Jordan’s nuclear projects can be categorised into 3 categories – R&D, Uranium Exploration and Nuclear Power Plant Project. The country is pursuing two parallel paths for nuclear – Large Reactor (1000 MWe) and SMR. For the large reactor, they would like to start direct negotiations with interested vendors on the feasibility of construction of 1000 MWe PWR on BOT/BOOT basis while for the SMR, the process is to continue technical & economic assessment to down-select to the most viable and suitable SMR options and to conduct detailed feasibility studies on the shortlisted SMRs.

The Bulgarian nuclear power programme was launched in 1974 with the commissioning of the first nuclear power unit of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The Bulgarian nuclear facilities are concentrated at the Kozloduy NPP site, where six power units were built: Units 5 and 6 are in operation and Units 1–4 are in the process of decommissioning. In 2018, nuclear power comprised about 35% of the total electricity production in Bulgaria. The Kozloduy NPP site has a wet type spent nuclear fuel interim storage facility and a dry spent fuel storage facility.

The town of Belene has been considered as the site for Bulgaria’s second nuclear plant and site preparation began in 1980. The Belene project would involve the construction of two units. In December last year, the Bulgarian energy ministry announced it had shortlisted five applicants in the running as strategic investors. The Bulgarian government has said it will take a majority stake in the project, which it expects to be completed by 2030.

In 2017, Mexico energy mix was composed from 59% of natural gas, 12% of oil, 10% of hydro, 10% of coal, 3% of nuclear, 3% of wind and 2% of geothermal.

Mexico has two nuclear reactors, Laguna Verde 1 & 2 (LVNPP) which are boiling water reactors (BWRs). The two reactors at the plant were put into operation in 1990 and 1995 with an initial installed capacity of 675 MW each. Their capacity was increased to 800 MW each 10 years. In 2019, the LVNPP generated 11 189.83 GWh, equivalent to 5% of total generation in the country, the unit capability factor was 81.75%

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) is looking into building four nuclear reactors towards 2029–2031. Two more reactors at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant [in Veracruz] and two on the Pacific coast. The cost of each 1,400-megawatt (MW) reactor, with a lifespan of about 60 years with an estimated cost of US $7 billion

Brazil has two operational nuclear power units at the Angra site and one unit under construction. The two pressurized water reactors had a total net capacity of 1,884 MW. Nuclear power provided 2.7% of electricity production to the country in 2018.

In 2019, Minister for Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque said that, Brazil’s national energy plan to 2050 will consider new nuclear power plants including generation IV technology and small modular reactors to meet growing national electricity demand. The Brazilian government is strongly committed to resuming the Angra 3 project, which will play an important role in the country’s future electricity system. In August 2020, Mr. Albuquerque mentioned that Brazil will choose by the end of this year its partner to help finance the construction of the Angra-3 nuclear power plant.

Brazil’s nuclear regulatory body, National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN), is responsible for licensing nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities, performing regulatory activities, and training and organizing personnel.

Eletronuclear is responsible for design, procurement and follow-up for Brazilian and foreign equipment, and management of construction, erection and commissioning of nuclear power plants, and is the sole owner and operator of nuclear power plants in the country. The company is currently focused important projects like the construction of its Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facility, the licence renewal for long term operation of Angra 1 NPP, and the resumption of Angra 3 NPP.

Argentina Installed nominal capacity in 2019 was 38,922 MW. Argentina generates electricity using thermal power plants based on fossil fuels (60%), hydroelectric plants (36%), and nuclear plants (3%), while wind and solar power accounted for less than 1%.

Argentina is considered an expanding country in terms of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Currently, it operates three PHWR nuclear power plants: Atucha I (340 MW), Atucha II (693 MW)and Embalse (608 MW) – which recently accomplished a successful life extension and revamping process. Furthermore, Argentina is constructing the indigenous CAREM 25 small modular reactor, which will have a gross capacity of 32 MW. Argentina is also in negotiations with international vendors for the possible construction of a future nuclear power plant.

Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA (NA-SA) announced in April 2020, Construction is to be resumed of the prototype CAREM-25 reactor and a used fuel dry storage facility, as well as the refurbishment of the Atucha 1 nuclear power plant.