Given the EU's legally binding 2050 comprehensive decarbonisation policy with adequate CO2 pricing, the closure of many large nuclear power plants in Belgium and Germany, and an EU-wide coal power phase out by 2030-2050 and the inability of intermittent renewable energy to supply the scale and quality of energy needed for continent-scale decarbonisation, there is a strong business case to deploy small modular reactors in the EU by 2040, writes Kalev Kallemets, co-founder and CEO of Fermi Energia.

To facilitate rapid decarbonisation and cut dependency on fossil fuels, both nuclear energy and renewables are needed for power and hydrogen production, a new independent study has concluded. The study, by Aurora Energy Research, investigates the benefits of deploying both nuclear and renewables for hydrogen production, to support the energy transition and meet UK climate targets.

Global nuclear industry leaders have agreed to work together with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency as the Group of Vienna to apply nuclear energy to addressing climate change and advancing sustainable development.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy has issued a regulatory policy for implementing a clean energy certificates scheme it says will cater to a growing appetite among businesses and consumers to contribute to the fight against climate change. The scheme provides an accreditation system based on internationally recognised standards and lays the foundations for a market for trading renewable and nuclear energy attributes.

With 44 days to go until the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, leaders from ten nations plus the European Commission, European Council and United Nations last week joined US President Joe Biden in a closed-door forum at which they underscored the urgency of strengthening climate ambition ahead of COP26 and beyond. The USA and the EU also announced a Global Methane Pledge to cut global methane pollution by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030 through collective action.

World nuclear generating capacity will double to 792 GWe (net) by 2050 from 393 GWe in 2020 under the high case scenario of the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest projections. Compared with last year's high case projection of 715 GWe by 2050, the estimate has been revised up by just over 10%, marking the first time since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident the IAEA has revised its projections upwards.

Exelon Generation is preparing to refuel its Byron and Dresden nuclear plants after the Illinois Senate passed a comprehensive energy package that, amongst other things, will create a process for the state to procure carbon mitigation credits from nuclear plants as the state aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The Byron plant had been scheduled to permanently shut down from today had the bill not been passed.

The UK's GMB union has warned that decarbonisation goals and nuclear industry jobs will both be at risk unless the government supports Sizewell C and other new build efforts. The Trade Unions Congress adopted GMB's call, and separately added that UK manufacturing jobs would suffer if decarbonisation targets are not met.

Nuclear is already set to become the largest source of energy in the Czech Republic, but accelerating new build and broadening its use to provide more heat would help hasten the phaseout of coal, according to the International Energy Agency. Phasing out coal is "a key challenge" for the Czech Republic, the IEA said in a policy review published today. Despite a 36% decrease since 2009, coal still accounts for half of total domestic energy production and it is not expected to be phased out completely until 2038, it said.

The Government of Kazakhstan and the Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund will over the next year explore the possibility of developing nuclear energy in Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his State of the Nation address on 1 September. The country is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060 but will need energy for quality growth, he said.

Ontario faces an electricity supply shortage and reliability risks in the next four to eight years and will not meet net-zero objectives without building new low-emission, nuclear generation starting as soon as possible, according to a report released yesterday by the Power Workers' Union. The capacity needed to fill the expected supply gap will be equivalent to doubling the province's planned nuclear fleet in eight years.

"The easy part is over" for US emission reductions and the country risks a "flatline" to 2050, Washington DC-based think tank ClearPath has warned in a new report. Utility commitments to net-zero and longer operation for nuclear power plants can help avoid the flatline but public policy is also needed, it said.