Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Nuclear Energy Growth Opportunities

Innovation Culture Driven by Need for Enhanced Safety and Comfort

The publisher values the global PPE market for the nuclear energy industry at $255.6 million in 2021 and projects it will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.6% from 2021 to 2026. Protective clothing is the largest product segment, accounting for 48.9% of market revenue. Activities in the nuclear energy industry that contribute the most PPE market revenue are outages and operations and maintenance.

Decommissioning a nuclear power plant requires the most sophisticated and highest-value PPE because this is when hazards are the highest. However, decommissioning is low in terms of volume.

On the one hand, the nuclear energy industry is growing in some regions, such as Asia and Central–Eastern Europe, with the majority of power plants under construction in China and India. On the other hand, the industry’s growth is relatively stagnant in Western Europe and the Americas. Germany and Great Britain are the main countries trying to reduce their dependence on nuclear energy. These regions are witnessing the construction of only 7 new nuclear power plants.

Each country that operates with nuclear energy has its own regulatory standards, although some international organizations work on aligning regulations as much as possible, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Nuclear Law Association (INLA).

RESEARCH SCOPE

• This research presents the global PPE market for the nuclear energy industry, considering current status and future prospects. It quantifies revenue in US dollars generated between 2018 and 2021 and estimates revenue between 2022 and 2026. Prices are calculated at the manufacturer level.
• Regional scope is limited to the countries that have nuclear power plants, either operational, under construction, or in the decommissioning process. This adds up to 38 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
• The publisher has identified 6 phases in nuclear energy generation for use in this analysis: nuclear power plant construction and commissioning; fuel production; operation and maintenance; outages; decommissioning; and nuclear waste management.
• The PPE product segments are above-the-neck protection, respiratory protection, protective clothing, hand protection, foot protection, and fall protection. The PPE is not limited to protection against radioactivity, but includes other hazards such as physical, thermal, and electrical, which are common to several industries.
• The study takes into account the present state of PPE products that workers in the PPE industry typically use as well as the technology trends and possible evolution for these products.