Gdańsk for having me 😉

Dzień dobry, państwu!

I’m writing this from the airport in Poland 🇵🇱 waiting for my delayed flight home (thanks RyanAir). But the delays will not dull the buzz of the last few days. 

Old Town

My first visit to beautiful Gdańsk with Jono and his team at Nuclear Strategy to host the first in a series of gatherings for the civil nuclear sector. We’ve been in Manchester for a few years now for the GB 🇬🇧 focus… but this is now a genuinely important moment for European nuclear.

The Solidarity movement was born in Gdańsk - by workers who rejected dependence and demanded the right to decide their own future. A fitting backdrop for this conference when you think of sovereignty and self-determination: who really controls our energy and on whose terms is it produced and delivered?

For too long, Europe’s answer to that question has been lacking and it’s left the continent massively exposed. The invasion of Ukraine has forced a reckoning that's still unfolding. But while the conflict rages on, the shift in political and public sentiment and political seems increasingly to be towards "Energy Realism" -- The idea that clean energy and sovereign energy aren't actually in conflict with each other. They're the same goal with nuclear firmly at the heart of that goal.

So, as always, i've learnt an awful lot! My job allows me to parachute into different sectors at different times and hold meaningful conversations with the main players. It's a privileged position, I know. But one that I take very seriously so I do my prep, I listen to the keynotes and presentations and I lead the panel discussions in the most inclusive, human, and results-driven way I can.

Like many, before working in the energy (specifically nuclear) sector my only understanding of nuclear was: Hiroshima, Armageddon, Chernobyl, Fukushima. But i've educated myself through much work with the IAEA in Vienna over the years, seeing first hand the power of the Rays of Hope initiative, as well as so much of the incredible work in civil nuclear. Public sentiment towards nuclear varies dramatically from country to country it seems. But, I am fully on board, while still committing to always showing up to ask the important questions.

Curiosity never killed the cat in my case -- Although patience* is a virtue I may never know.

*I blame airlines... why oh why do they tell you board a plane that doesn't exist???