Economic, environmental and social concerns for energies in the 21. century; what place for nuclear energy in Europe and the world?

Nuclear energy benefits from valuable assets: its economic competitiveness and its sustainability (on the long term via recycling and fast reactors) but the challenges to overcome are still numerous and important. Concerning economic issues: its competitiveness has to be maintained, a business model and an efficient market for the construction of nuclear power plants have to be optimized. Concerning political issues: a stable frame (energy policy, regulations, tariffs, ...) has to be set and the risk of proliferation has to be diminished efficiently. Concerning social issues: the concern of radioactive wastes has to be solved, the safety of reactors must be assured in any configuration and transparency must be seen as an allied for nuclear industry. If all these challenges are overcome, the development of a smart nuclear power will be likely, combined with smart power grids, nuclear energy will then become a primary energy resource for heat production, hydrogen production or sea-water desalting. In this case, from 15 to 30% of the electricity production in 2030 will originate in nuclear energy. (A.C.)