Croatian Nuclear Society continues with its successful series of international conferences for professionals working in the field of nuclear energy and associated areas. The purpose of the conference series is to present and discuss the most relevant topics concerning the role and position of nuclear option in the current energy balance, with special attention paid to the countries with small and medium electricity grids. Main concerns with which modern society is faced include availability of energy resources, greenhouse gas emissions and potential climate changes with evidences of apparent global warming. In such a context the issue of ensuring reliable and sustainable energy becomes ever more challenging.

Nuclear energy as the CO2 free energy source should have its place in resolving these concerns and enabling all the countries to cope with challenges they pose. The energy sector needs to be fundamentally transformed into a low carbon energy supply system to assure that world will be able to mitigate climate changes in the next decades. At the same time, the sector needs to withstand extreme events and to adapt to changes in the environment. Nuclear power’s resilience follows general definition of resilience as the ability to limit the extent, severity, and duration of system degradation following an extreme natural or man-made event. The resilience is already closely integrated in concept of nuclear safety, making the nuclear power reliable energy source and helping the global community to overcome potential challenges in near future.

Following the success of the previous conferences in the series, the 14th International Conference in Zadar will serve the same general purpose, concentrating on the topics which attracted the most of interest previously. At the Conference, the nuclear option will be considered and discussed from the point of view of national energy strategies, resources, costs and technological, organizational and educational requirements, as well as environmental advantages. The focus will also be on matters related to nuclear power plants operation and design safety, fuel cycle, waste management, decommissioning and achievement of Long Term Operation (LTO). Successful LTO should be considered in the light of plant generation of reliable, safe, low-cost, low-emission electricity for decades longer than originally envisioned.

As in the previous cases, the important goal of the Conference will be to promote regional co-operation and exchange of experience in use of nuclear power and fuel cycle facilities among the countries with an interest in the nuclear option.