Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA
Later that evening, the Director General took part in a high-level reception with Microsoft founder and nuclear energy advocate Bill Gates and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on ‘Clean Tech Innovation on the Road to Net Zero’.
Prime Minister De Croo highlighted Belgium’s ongoing commitment to achieving a clean energy transition and Bill Gates emphasized its ability to support other green energy technologies.
“We really need to get going with nuclear mixing with renewables,” Mr Gates said. “Nuclear is complementary to a lot more renewables, maybe fifty to ninety per cent of renewables.”
The Director General discussed how important global inclusivity and non-proliferation are to this ongoing effort and introduced the first ever Nuclear Energy Summit, which will be held in Brussels in March.
“It’s incredible that after seventy years of the commercial operation of nuclear power there was never an opportunity for world leaders to get together like this on this topic. In Brussels we will discuss the possibilities, discuss the issue of finance, and talk about addressing this global challenge of climate change.”
The Director General is also attending other meetings that discussed the opportunities offered by low-carbon nuclear power, including a dialogue between engineering experts and senior policy-makers, and a session on how the Middle East and North Africa can best decarbonise their energy sectors.
As well as engaging on nuclear power, the IAEA Director General also assembled a key event on the importance of nuclear technologies in cancer care, and ways to increase access to these therapies in low- and middle-income countries.
The ‘affiliate session’ on access to radiotherapy [watch recording of livestream on YouTube] was held by the IAEA on Wednesday in conjunction with the Union for International Cancer Control and The Lancet Oncology journal.