NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV, welcomes delegates of the 151st Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy session, chaired by Dame Fiona Rayment DBE FREng FRSE
The NEA held the 151st Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy meeting on 23-24 April 2026 in Paris, France. Serving as the NEA’s ruling body, the Steering Committee meets twice a year to review the main pillars of the NEA’s programme of work and co-operative activities.
The April session featured discussions on NEA’s budget, strategic priorities and ongoing activities, latest analyses, and global relations and co-operation with non-member countries, among other areas.
A policy session on system costs featured a presentation on the NEA system cost analyses which are based on in-depth information about the workings of a country’s electricity and NEA’s state-of-the-art technoeconomic modelling. The analyses are coupled with the careful development of policy scenarios built in close co-operation with country experts and policymakers. The NEA has already conducted such studies of electricity and energy systems in Switzerland and Sweden, and is currently working on one in Korea.
The meeting also featured a policy briefing on the impacts of export controls on global nuclear trade and co-operation. Presentations from government and industry representatives, as well as the NEA Secretariat, provided an overview of current trends in global nuclear deployment and trade, and of how export control frameworks intersect with these developments. The discussions also focused on structural, administrative and implementation challenges that arise as nuclear trade increasingly involves large‑scale infrastructure projects, complex supply chains and intangible technology transfers.
The next Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy session will take place in October 2026.
Policy briefing speakers: François Bonino, Deputy Director, Division of International Relations, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France; Krzysztof Kołodziej, Head of Dual-use Export Control Unit, Department for Trade in Strategic Goods and Technical Safety, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Poland; James R. Warden, Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Safety and Security, Bureau of Arms Control and Non-proliferation, US Department of State; Jo Anna Bredenkamp, Director, Global Nuclear Safeguards and Strategic Export Programs (EMEA), Westinghouse Electric Company, Belgium; Nathalie Cornuel, Head Export Control, Électricité de France (EDF), France; Yasunori Inada , Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of Nuclear Energy Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd., Japan; Dr Naoki Chigusa, Chief Executive Officer, World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO); Jack Edlow, President, Edlow International Company, United States