Areva, EDF and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have launched a tripartite consultative body to "best confront the profound changes currently under way in the highly-competitive nuclear sector".

Figures released today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that electricity generation in the UK fell by half a percent last year to 337.7 TWh, from 338.9 TWh a year earlier. The change reflected a large fall in generation from coal that was offset by increases from renewables and nuclear, according to DECC's Energy Trends report for March 2016.

The UK needs new nuclear power and there are projects beyond Hinkley Point C (HPC) that will also ensure the country meets future demand for this affordable, low-carbon baseload source of electricity, a parliamentary committee heard yesterday.

Vincent de Rivaz, the CEO of EDF Energy, said today that the Hinkley Point C (HPC) project will "clearly and categorically" go ahead. Giving evidence to the UK parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee, de Rivaz confirmed that, according to the French economy minister, the repeatedly postponed final investment decision on the project to build two EPR units at the site in Somerset, England would finally be made "by early May". He would not himself give a specific date and said the decision would be made "very soon".

China's operating nuclear generating capacity will double over the next five years under the country's latest Five-Year Plan. The plan also calls for the preparation for construction of inland nuclear power plants and work on a reprocessing plant to start by 2020.

UK legislation aimed at curbing carbon dioxide emissions is likely to have committed the country to a large expansion of nuclear power, according to a new book on nuclear power, writes Stephen Tarlton.

The UK government has launched the initial phase of its small modular reactor (SMR) competition with a call for initial expressions of interest. It has also announced that an SMR Delivery Roadmap will be published later this year.

Hualong International Nuclear Power Technology - the joint venture between China General Nuclear and China National Nuclear Corporation to promote the Hualong One reactor design in export markets - was officially inaugurated today.

The UK's Energy and Climate Change Committee has called EDF Energy, and other energy companies planning to build reactors in the UK, to Parliament on 23 March to give evidence on the future of the nuclear industry.

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions - the largest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions - stayed flat for a second year in a row, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced today following an analysis of preliminary date for 2015.

While global energy demand is expected to grow by 34% between 2014 and 2035, nuclear power generation will grow 50% in total over the same period, according to the latest Energy Outlook from oil and gas giant BP.

As the world celebrates International Women's Day, we should take note of the contribution women make - and have always made - to the nuclear energy industry. But the Conservative Party-led British government needs to do a lot more to show today's young women that the sector can offer them a fulfilling and rewarding career, writes Lisa Nandy.