The 17th Biennial General Meeting (BGM) of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in Abu Dhabi drew more than 400 delegates from 35 countries. The theme of the meeting was Fusing Futures: Sustainable Performance in the Tech and Net Zero Era. During the BGM, WANO launched its newly revised strategy, UNITY Towards Nuclear Excellence including a new set of core values and a renewed focus to support new nuclear units start up safely and reliably over the next decade.
Tom Mitchell, Chairman of WANO, stated: “The great engagement and participation of delegates at this conference underlines the Unity of this unique Association. It is the key principle that underpins the success of WANO since its establishment.”
The Governing Board adopted a resolution emphasising WANO’s continued support to all nuclear stations operating under military conflict in all countries in any way practical, to help ensure nuclear safety fundamentals remain in place to support nuclear safety. WANO committed to continue supporting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety efforts. The resolution reaffirmed that every effort must be taken to ensure that no member nuclear power station becomes isolated from the industry or from industry interaction needed to support the highest levels of nuclear safety.
The conference also acknowledged the contributions of the outgoing WANO President Mohamed Al Hammadi, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) Managing Director & CEO. “With renewed momentum in the nuclear sector to deliver new units to generate clean, baseload power, WANO will fulfil an important role in supporting these new units and the wider global fleet. Together, we will continue to build on our successes and remain dedicated to our mission of collaboration knowledge-sharing for nuclear safety and reliability,” Al Hammadi noted.
Dr Naoki Chigusa, WANO CEO, concluded: “With around 60 nuclear units under construction worldwide, this year’s event included special emphasis on supporting new entrants and emerging technologies. Since 2015, WANO has successfully completed more than 160 missions to assist in the startup of new builds. We were happy to welcome delegates from new entrant countries including Ghana, Kenya and Poland, who had their first BGM experience.”
The next WANO BGM will be held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2026. Tomoaki Kobayakawa, CEO of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings has assumed the honorary position of WANO President for two years. “Japan’s nuclear power operators will steadfastly support the global industry in uniting to achieve our Action for Excellence initiative for 2030,” he said.
Researched and written by Judith Perera
