The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency released a report in March which it described as the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. Claire Maden reports on the report's key findings (that there's still a long way to go to boost female representation in the sector) and also on what NEA Director General William D Magwood IV and Fiona Rayment, chair of the NEA's Gender Balance Task Group had to say about the situation.

The need to encourage more women into the nuclear sector is an issue returned to in an interview with Corhyn Parr, CEO of Nuclear Waste Services, who says her own experience has shown it is a great career choice. She also tells host Alex Hunt that with the expansion of nuclear in the coming years and the need to hit net zero targets, the sector needs to be able to attract and welcome the most talented people from across society.

Parr also discusses progress made on the UK's plans for a Geological Disposal Facility. The aim is to narrow the current shortlisted areas down to two options by 2026, with the longer-term timescale looking at an operating start in 2050.

The European Union's member states have been split over the position of nuclear energy within its sustainability framework and green taxonomy. Those differences are continuing with the EU's Net Zero Industry Act - Andrei Goicea, policy director for Nucleareurope, explains what the act is, what place nuclear has in it at the moment, and what happens next. 

In the news round-up World Nuclear News's Warwick Pipe reports on the contrasting nuclear energy developments taking place in Taiwan and South Korea.

Key links to find out more:
World Nuclear News
NEA: Gender Balance in the Nuclear Sector
Nucleareurope
Nuclear Waste Services

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Contact info:
alex.hunt@world-nuclear.org

Episode credit:  Presenter Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production