IAEA News

IAEA’s Grossi at COP 25: More nuclear power needed for clean energy transition

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, speaking at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) on 11 December in Madrid, Spain, said greater use of low carbon nuclear power is needed to ensure the global transition to clean energy, including to back up variable renewables such as solar and wind.

The world is currently well off the mark from reaching the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. With around two thirds of the world’s electricity still generated through the burning of fossil fuels, and despite growing investment in renewable energy sources, global emissions of greenhouse gases reached a record high last year.

Mr Grossi said greater deployment of a diverse mix of low carbon sources, such as hydro, wind and solar, as well as nuclear power and battery storage, will be needed to reverse that trend and put the world on track to meet climate goals.

“We should not see nuclear energy and renewables as being in competition with one another,” he said at a side event on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), on ensuring access to affordable and reliable energy. “We need to make use of all available sources of clean energy.”

Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during operation. They are also able to operate around the clock at near full capacity, while variable renewables require back-up power during their output gaps.

“Nuclear power offers a steady, reliable supply of electricity,” Mr Grossi stated. “It can provide continuous, low carbon power to back up the increasing use of renewables. It can be the key that unlocks their potential by providing flexible support — day or night, rain or shine.”

He also spoke of the role of nuclear applications that help countries adapt to the consequences of climate change that are already apparent. “Our scientists help countries to develop new varieties of rice and barley that are tolerant of drought, extreme temperatures and salinity,” he said. “We support the use of nuclear techniques to identify and manage limited water resources.”

The United Nations side event, entitled “Accelerating the energy transformation in support of sustainable development and the Paris Agreement”, focused on initiatives that could have a significant impact towards achieving the SDG 7 goals, helping to close the energy access gap

(Photo: J. Donovan/IAEA)

in a sustainable way and promoting climate action by transitioning towards zero-carbon energy solutions.

The event was opened by remarks from Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Damilola Ogunbiyi, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All and Li Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Organization (UNIDO).

Mr Grossi said nuclear power needs a place at the table where the world’s energy future is decided, and that he was encouraged by his talks with other international organizations and their willingness to work with the IAEA towards a cleaner climate.

He underscored the symbolism of attending COP25 just one week after taking office.

“This reflects the importance of the issue and my firm belief that nuclear science and technology have an important role to play in helping the world to address the climate emergency,” he said. “That view is shared by many of the IAEA’s 171 Member States.”

Sudan looks to nuclear technology to double farmers’ income and grow peanut exports

Sudanese farmers in areas prone to drought now have a drought-tolerant peanut variety that will improve their livelihoods and increase the country’s peanut exports. This new variety has shown up to 27% improvement in yields while needing less water and has the potential to double farmers’ income. It was developed using nuclear techniques with the support of the IAEA, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

“Farmers in the rainfed areas of North Kordofan State used to grow fewer peanut crops, as they generally believed the environment was unsuitable,” said Elgailani Adam Abdalla, Director of the El-Obeid Agricultural Research Station in the west of Sudan, adding that instead they had to rely on less lucrative produce, such as watermelons. “With this new variety, they have seen for the first time that peanut crops can grow and produce high yields even in harsh conditions.”

Peanuts, also known as groundnuts, are commonly pressed into oil or used in various local dishes, including salads, soups and stews. Their leaves and stems, as well as cakes pressed from peanuts, are popular for livestock feed.

Sudan used to be one of the world’s top exporters of peanuts, but its ranking has fallen in recent years. Traditional, small-scale farming in Sudan’s western states produces 70% of the country’s peanut supply. Since peanuts depend on rainfall to survive, devastating droughts in these regions have significantly affected farmers’ ability to produce high yields.

The government is now looking to regain its footing as a top exporter while improving the livelihoods of subsistence farmers. Achieving this goal requires a crop variety that can produce high yields in these droughtprone areas. After a decade of research at the El-Obeid Agricultural Research Station, Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry released a variety named Tafra-1 in 2018 and is now in the process of multiplying its seeds for large-scale distribution to farmers.

Developing the variety Scientists used irradiation as an initial step in plant breeding to develop this

new variety. Irradiation accelerates changes in the genetic make-up of crops, so scientists can select lines with desired traits, such as drought resistance, and eventually obtain the best variety. While crops can take several centuries to adapt to changes in the environment through spontaneous mutation and natural selection, irradiation speeds up this process. This is also how this variety got its name: ‘Tafra’ means mutant in Arabic.

The IAEA, in cooperation with the FAO, supports countries, including Sudan, in adapting their agricultural practices to climate change. “Climate change causes increasingly significant damage to agriculture, putting food production at risk in various parts of the world, including Sudan,” said Fatma Sarsu, a plant breeder and

(Photo: IAEA)

geneticist at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. “Increasing agricultural production and productivity, in addition to adapting crops to variations in climate, is critical to ensuring food and nutrition security. Our collaborative work has contributed to crop adaptation to climate change in Sudan through the development of a new peanut variety.”

Support, delivered through the IAEA’s technical cooperation programme, included fellowships, training courses and equipment, such as a rainout shelter and a sprinkler irrigation system. The IAEA also supported Sudan by dispatching international experts to assist with the development, evaluation and selection of an improved peanut variety. A participatory approach Researchers were in charge of developing several potential varieties, but it was up to farmers to decide which ones worked best in their fields.

“We included farmers from the early stages of the research process so they could actually select the variety that best fits their needs,” said Abdalla. This demand-driven research process also leads to a better chance of farmers adopting and using the variety once it’s been developed, he added.

Farmers tested several peanut varieties across seven villages in North Kordofan State, one of the most vulnerable to drought in Sudan, monitoring them with researchers over four years to assess the outcome.

They were looking for certain desirable traits such as high and stable yields under various climate conditions and tolerance to terminal drought, the most common type of drought in the region, where dry spells coincide with the end of the growing season when the peanut plants are nearly mature.

In the end, the farmers and researchers came to the same conclusion: Tafra-1 was the clear winner, favoured for its tolerance to drought and ability to produce high yields with little rain.

Benefitting farmers and the economy The new variety can grow with less than 250 mm of rain per year compared to the 350 mm needed for the traditional one, Abadalla said. It also produces yields that are 11% higher on average than the traditional variety — 1024 kg/hectare versus 926 kg/hectare — and, in some locations, yields have risen by as much as 27% in tests during the last three years.

Higher yields mean higher incomes for Sudan’s small-scale farmers, who make up around 12% of the country’s total population. Yield estimates across multiple growing seasons and locations indicate that, by using the new variety, peanut farmers could make up to US $28 more per hectare

per harvest. This is a significant increase given that a farmer’s average income from a single season of peanut crops is roughly US $26 per hectare.

Eight hectares of the variety have been planted at present, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is working to multiply the seeds for large-scale use, Abdalla said. Meanwhile, the variety’s high performance has prompted farmers to start multiplying seeds on their own.

But it won’t be long before there are plenty of these seeds to go around. “In 2020, we will give seeds to 100 farmers,” Abdalla said. “But, in only three years, we expect to have multiplied enough seeds to supply all 230 000 potential groundnut farmers in North Kordofan State. We will then be able to produce enough for domestic consumption and the external market.”

In the meantime, the IAEA is continuing to support projects in the country to help further improve crop productivity and the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in drought-prone areas. “We are very pleased with the success of this new groundnut variety, but further multiplying the variety and expanding outreach is vitally important to scale up the impact on livelihoods,” said Solomon Haile, the IAEA Programme Management Officer responsible for projects in Sudan.

— By Kendall Siewert

Second shipment of low enriched uranium completes IAEA LEU Bank

The IAEA on 10 December 2019 received the second and final shipment of low enriched uranium (LEU) at a purpose-built facility in Kazakhstan housing the IAEA LEU Bank, which was established to provide assurance to countries about the supply of nuclear fuel. The delivery completes the planned stock of the material that the IAEA LEU Bank will hold, following the first shipment in October. Kazakhstan’s JSC National Atomic Company Kazatomprom — the world’s largest producer of natural uranium — delivered 28 cylinders of LEU to the facility at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP) in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. The uranium originated from Kazakhstan and was enriched at a facility in the neighbouring Russian Federation before the LEU was transported by train to the site in eastern Kazakhstan, where it was checked and officially accepted by IAEA experts.

Owned by the IAEA and hosted by Kazakhstan, the IAEA LEU Bank is one of the IAEA’s most ambitious undertakings since it was founded in 1957.

“With the arrival of the second shipment, the IAEA LEU Bank stock is now complete,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

“I remember when the project was discussed and agreed by the IAEA Board of Governors in 2010, and I am very pleased that the Agency met the challenge and delivered on what the international community requested.”

Marta Ferrari, the IAEA’s Acting Project Executive for the IAEA LEU Bank, was at the site to inspect the consignment and sign the delivery documents. “With the arrival of the second shipment of LEU from Kazatomprom, the IAEA LEU Bank now has a sufficient amount of material for approximately one complete core for a 1000 MW(e) pressurized water reactor.”

The establishment and operation of the IAEA LEU Bank are fully funded by voluntary contributions from IAEA Member States and other donors totalling US $150 million, covering estimated costs for at least 20 years of operation. Donors include the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the United States of America, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Norway and Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan also contributed in kind by hosting the IAEA LEU Bank.

“We would like to thank the donors for their generous contributions and the very helpful cooperation offered by Kazakhstan, China and the Russian Federation,” Director General Grossi added.

Background In December 2010, the IAEA Board of Governors authorized the Director General to establish the IAEA LEU Bank to serve as an assurance of supply mechanism of last resort for Member States that experience a supply disruption due to exceptional circumstances and are unable to secure nuclear power fuel from the commercial market, State-to-State arrangements or by any other means. It is a physical reserve of 90 tonnes of LEU, the basic ingredient to fabricate fuel for nuclear power plants.

More information on the history of the IAEA LEU Bank project and the first shipment of 32 cylinders of LEU from France’s Orano Cycle is available on the IAEA’s website.

(Photo: K.Laffan/IAEA)

safety and security of the IAEA LEU Bank and shall apply the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance documents. The IAEA will perform review missions periodically to ensure that the UMP continues to operate the facility in accordance with such guidance.

Other assurance of supply mechanisms established with IAEA approval include a guaranteed physical reserve of LEU maintained by the Russian Federation at the International Uranium Enrichment Center in Angarsk, Russian Federation, and an assurance of supply guaranty by the United Kingdom for supplies of LEU enrichment services.

Globally, there are around 450 nuclear power reactors in operation today, supplying about 10 percent of the world’s electricity and one third of all low carbon electricity. In addition, 52 nuclear power reactors are currently under construction.

The UMP, as the facility operator, has the prime responsibility for the

New collaborative portal provides one-stop-shop access to isotope hydrology resources

A new information portal, launched in December 2019, will help water scientists expand their access to data from all over the world and increase collaboration possibilities to advance scientific research using isotope hydrology for better assessment of the quantity, quality and sustainability of the world’s water supplies.

“We created this one-stop-shop Isotope Hydrology Collaboration Site platform to help streamline how isotope hydrologists access the information we offer,” said Leonard Wassenaar, Head of the IAEA’s Isotope Hydrology Section. “Before, we were receiving many requests for information and data via email, but now experts can instead get the relevant isotope hydrology details they are looking for all in one place, whenever they need it.”

Water molecules have a unique set of ‘fingerprints’ that can be tracked throughout the entire water cycle, from evaporation to their return to a water source. By measuring different isotopes in water molecules, it is possible to determine the age and origin of water. Policymakers can use this information to gauge the vulnerability of water resources to pollution and determine the rate of replenishment.

Featuring an interactive portal for water scientists and collaborative partners who use isotope hydrology technologies and applications, the new system provides all the relevant information concerning IAEA isotope hydrology activities to aid them in their work.

The portal is available following registration for the IAEA’s NUCLEUS platform and gives users access to a wide range of water-related resources, including an archive of all IAEA isotope hydrology publications, technical documents and newsletters, as well as to laboratory software and participation in laboratory proficiency testing.

Also accessible are two of the IAEA’s flagship collaborative networks: GNIP, the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation, and GNIR, the Global Network for Isotopes in Rivers. These networks are used in a variety of areas, such as climate change studies, environmental research and forensics.

The portal includes e-learning pages and reference materials to facilitate education and training. The e-learning component of the portal provides easy-to-understand educational videos on isotope hydrology, such as a step-by-step overview of tritium sample processing and analysis. For those wishing to participate in training courses, a dedicated web page showcases all available courses. A list of upcoming events and announcements allows experts to keep up to date with the latest waterrelated activities, such as workshops and conferences.

Registered users can also access the IAEA coordinated research projects they are participating in and collaborate with other users. Discussion boards have been set up to foster dialogue between scientists.

Some experts are already engaging with the portal to support their work. “I am really interested in staying in contact with the network. Let me know what we can do to collaborate further,” said Emilia Jiménez Hernández, Research Assistant at the Applied Isotope Laboratory of the Research and Experimental Centre for Public Works (CEDEX) in Madrid, Spain.

— Ismini Dimidis