NNF24 Conference Program: Powering Tomorrow, Navigating the Nordic Nuclear Paradigm Shift

The 2-day conference at the Nordic Nuclear Forum will gather government officials, policymakers and industry experts from all around the world to discuss and give their insight about the current hot topics that are shaping the future of nuclear energy. This year’s conference theme is Powering Tomorrow, Navigating the Nordic Nuclear Paradigm Shift. The conference will discuss the latest market trends, policies, technologies and future strategies driving growth and innovation across the evolving nuclear industry.

DAY 1 Nuclear policies and operations
On May 21 2024, conference guests will convene to hear from key persons of the civil nuclear scene. Morning sessions will see speakers such as Carl Berglöf, Sweden’s National Nuclear Power Coordinator, Petteri Tiippana, Director General of STUK (Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority). “Future of nuclear industry” session will see directors of the leading businesses in the Nordic region on stage. What are the future solutions in the nuclear industry? What can we expect of the future in the nuclear industry? New build projects and SMR (small modular reactor) plans from regulatory, economical and technical perspectives. One of the cases in this session will be the lessons learned from the Olkiluoto 3 project.

Session two of the conference will be with the topic “Future of waste management”. Rebecca Tadesse, Head of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning Division at OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) will give insights about the overview and policies on the subject. Session will be enriched with the news from ONKALO®, the first deep geological repository in the world. The last session of the day one will be a panel discussion with a topic “Lifecycle management”. Experts from Fortum, Uniper, STUK, PEJ and ENGIE will address this current topic by giving their views on, for example, decommissioning, sustainability and responsibility. Day one culminates with the speech by Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of IAEA, followed by a networking cocktail.

DAY 2 Nuclear technologies and applications
Day two of the conference will focus on topics about nuclear technologies and applications. The day will start with a session “Paradigm shift of the nuclear industry”. The session will discuss winds of change and the new era of the nuclear industry. One of the perspectives in this session will come from the investor’s side of this case and will discuss the first green bond in Europe. Second session of day two will be with a topic “Long term operation and ageing management of nuclear power plants”. In this session we will hear about EPRI’s activities supporting aging management and long-term operation of the existing nuclear fleet, as well as regulatory aspects of ageing management and the political pressure to sustain non-fossil energy and efficiency upgrades. Perspectives of Finnish and Swedish NPP operators will also be presented with highlights of competence retention, business development, prerequisites for LTO and financial drivers. 

After lunch the afternoon sessions will include a panel discussion of nuclear industry young generation and students with the topic “Future Energy Leaders”. Young leaders will discuss why and how to attract new talents to the industry and to retain current talents in the industry, in order to secure the competent workforce for the entire plant lifetime of existing and new fleet and beyond. Discussion bridges to the next session “Competence building, Human capacity development”, which will dig deep into the competence development and human capacity in the nuclear industry with the experts. The last session of day two “Research and Innovation” will discuss the state of advanced nuclear research, including next generation reactors and fusion energy with the experts from IAEA and EPRI. The NNF24 conference will end with the closing words by Finnish Minister of Climate and the Environment, Kai Mykkänen. 

An impressive lineup of speakers for the Nordic Nuclear Forum 2024 has been released already, so check out from the conference page. The page is updated regularly, so stay tuned!

Be a part of driving the momentum of nuclear industry further
Nordic Nuclear Forum 2024 will tackle the most current topics in the nuclear field and give new inspiration and information for the attendees. Purchase your ticket now and join NNF24 with the industry experts and be a part of driving the momentum of the nuclear industry further. See you in Helsinki in May!