The best trade shows do more than just connect buyers and sellers—they shape and support a shared vision for their industry, and provide a global stage for innovation, education, and talent recruitment. We spoke with Anne-Manuèle Hébert, Exhibition Director of the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), about how the event is fostering entrepreneurship, attracting a new generation of skilled workers, and changing public perceptions about the importance and potential of civil nuclear energy and technology.

Once regarded as a controversial and high-risk option, nuclear energy is now seen by many as a vital component of a secure, low-carbon future. Nuclear is also playing a crucial role in advancing fields like medicine, space, and agriculture, where it is revolutionising cancer treatment, fuelling space exploration and increasing crop yields.

Supporting and growing these civil applications of nuclear technology, as opposed to the more contentious military ones, is the sole focus of World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), the world’s leading civil nuclear event, which takes place in Paris every two years. It’s a distinction that Exhibition Director Anne-Manuèle Hébert is keen to stress.

“The war in Ukraine and the growing climate crisis have really changed perceptions around nuclear energy as more governments and authorities turn to civil nuclear to strengthen their energy sovereignty and security and work towards their decarbonisation goals” she explained. “Nevertheless, there remains a lot of misunderstanding around nuclear, as people continue to confuse the civil and military nuclear sectors - which represents a problem for an industry that is relying on the recruitment of a new generation of talent to help drive innovation and growth.”

So, for the last edition of WNE, held in November 2023, the team not only made ‘Rising to the energy and environmental challenge’ their theme – they also focused their programme on three key attributes for success: innovation, entrepreneurship, and attractiveness.

“Our goal was to demonstrate to industry, investors, the media and young talent that civil nuclear is a vibrant, innovative, high growth, and a high-performance sector offering exciting career opportunities, not only for the next generation, but for skilled engineers looking for a new challenge,” explained Anne-Manuèle.

The event enjoyed its largest ever participation, attracting a sell-out 760 exhibitors, and nearly 23,000 industry professionals and students. Over 8,800 business meetings were conducted, and there was a real buoyancy in the air in the exhibition and conference halls, with two new initiatives in particular capturing the attention of politicians, investors, the media and attendees – the WNE Start-up Programme, and the  Connect to Nuclear Programme.

Fuelling nuclear innovation

Entrepreneurs play a crucial role in shaping the future by driving innovation, but there are huge barriers to entry, not least in the civil nuclear industry. WNE has welcomed start-ups in the past, but on a self-selection basis. This time, said Anne-Manuèle, the team took a much more proactive approach to help bring exciting, safe technologies to market quickly.

“We scouted every continent and selected 20 start-ups that we felt represented the potential for nuclear at its most innovative and exciting. Ten of them were French, the other 10 came from countries such as Finland, the US, Canada, Korea and Japan,” she revealed. “We invited them to showcase their technology, free of charge, in a brand new ‘WNE Start-Up Village’ sponsored by SNETP, the European Union’s Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform, and located at the heart of the exhibition.”

“We could have sold this premium space 10 times over to other clients” added Anne-Manuèle, “but we understood that this was a sound investment for the future of our industry, and for our event. So much so, that we are excited to welcome some of our start-ups back as exhibitors at WNE 2025.”

Over the course of the three-day event, the entrepreneurs enjoyed mentoring sessions with industry leaders, and meetings with investors and potential industry partners. They also had the opportunity to connect with visiting politicians, including Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner and journalists from the Financial Times, Sifted, Le Figaro and Money Today, among others.  And all were entered into the ‘Coup de Coeur’ people’s choice award, determined by online vote. The prize went to the pioneering Danish startup Kärnfull, Denmark’s only electricity company with 100% nuclear power.

Powering nuclear careers

To tackle the challenge of bringing new people into the nuclear industry, WNE launched another new trailblazing initiative called the Connect to Nuclear Programme. Organised in partnership with the WIM (Women in Nuclear Association) and the AYB (Association of Youth in Nuclear), the programme offered participating students a unique opportunity to engage with companies and explore career paths in various nuclear activities, from mining and utilities to digital and waste management.

“Nuclear has the power to change the world by decarbonizing energy, which is incredibly important to the next generation. It is also playing a role in improving so many aspects of our lives and we were keen to communicate this sense of excitement and potential,” said Anne-Manuèle.  “The Connect to Nuclear Programme was designed to highlight the wide spectrum of job opportunities available; the significant investment that is being made in skills and training; and the opportunity to build a long-term career with real job security. Roles in nuclear tend to be highly skilled so you don’t need to worry about your job being outsourced further down the line.”

The WNE team worked with 30 different schools and welcomed more than 800 selected students to the programme. “We developed a three-hour package of activities for them, including a workshop with industry experts, job pitches by young people in the industry, meetings with HR/talent leaders, a tour of the show floor, and VR activities to gamify their participation,” said Anne- Manuèle . “The programme was not only very well received by the industry, but the French Minister for Energy took time to meet with the students and share her experiences of the nuclear industry, accompanied by five journalists, resulting in significant media coverage.”

Partners in success

As the global event for civil nuclear, WNE plays a key role in helping to unite the industry behind a common vision and goals. Indeed, one of the joys of working in the civil nuclear industry is the sense of community and partnership it fosters, said Anne- Manuèle.

“RX organises WNE on behalf of GIFEN, the trade association of the French nuclear industry, and we have a really strong partnership. Our team is their team and vice-versa. They are the experts in the nuclear industry, we are the experts in delivering international trade shows that build global business for our clients. Together we run faster.”

“Civil nuclear is an ecosystem, rather than a group of individual players,” she continued. “We are all part of a global supply chain – mining, utilities, waste management, logistics, digital -  creating and delivering value for each other. It’s fascinating to note that of the 8,800 business meetings generated at WNE 2023, 50% were between exhibiting companies.”

Building on success

World Nuclear Exhibition’s mission to engage new audiences with the positive power of civil nuclear, whilst driving innovation and growth, was a resounding success by any measure. It drew a record 790 exhibitors, filling the show floor to capacity, and featured 17 international pavilions (up from 12 in 2021). It also increased attendance by 40% compared with the previous edition, and generated 762 press articles, 60% of them international.  

Now all eyes are on WNE 2025 with exciting new plans to continue the mission. “We are looking at launching a new initiative around the application markets for nuclear, such as medicine, space and agriculture. We will also be fine-tuning our Start-Up Programme to support even more innovative young businesses, and further developing our talent programme which will return as the ‘Jobs and Training Programme’.  Having sown the seeds for an exciting WNE 2025 we are excited to watch them bloom.”

World Nuclear Exhibition 2025 returns to Paris Nord Villepinte from 4-6 November 2025.