Sustainable energy

For the last few years, nuclear energy has once again been the centre of attention. In 2010 for example, the Dutch government decided to consider nuclear energy as a serious option for the future.

The revived interest in nuclear energy must be viewed in the light of an increasing energy demand in emerging economies, decreasing fossil fuels (particularly oil and gas stocks), a greater dependence on energy supplies from unstable regimes, and alternative energy solutions to reduce the emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 as far as possible.

Presently, nuclear energy is responsible for about 15% of the world’s electricity. In Europe, this share has already grown to around 30% (increasing to 50% at night). These percentages will increase significantly during the coming decades, according to the IEA’s forecasts in its annual World Energy Outlook. In many countries, nuclear energy is considered as an affordable, dependable and clean transitional technology.

This implies a strong global demand for the development, design and building of components for new nuclear reactors (generations III and IV), extension of the life span of existing reactors (from 40 to 60 years), increasing the sustainability of nuclear energy (improvement in raw material usage and minimisation of waste streams) and nuclear fusion.

NRG has expertise in all these fields. However, without the right technical infrastructure, i.e. PALLAS, this Dutch contribution would be virtually impossible.