Despite challenging market conditions, the global nuclear industry delivered a strong operating performance and improvements in construction times of new reactors in 2015, according to a new report from the World Nuclear Association. The report says that if the world is to meet its climate change targets then the rate of new build will need to accelerate.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said today that governments serious about nuclear power should find the right frameworks to attract investors in order to overcome the challenges of large investments in liberalised markets.

Industry leaders last week debated how to bridge the gap between the World Nuclear Association's vision of an extra 1000 GWe of new nuclear power capacity by 2050, and the practicalities of working within current political, regulatory and financial environments.

The nuclear power industry has a unique role to play in tackling two "existential threats" facing all humanity - climate change and nuclear war, Daniel Poneman, president and CEO of Centrus Energy Corp told delegates at the World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium in London last week. From 2009 to 2014, Poneman was US deputy secretary of energy and also served as the COO of the US Department of Energy.

The global nuclear industry should aim to achieve a 25% share of world electricity production by 2050, Agneta Rising, director general of the World Nuclear Association said today. To do that it will need to add 1000 gigawatts of new generation capacity.

Future electricity systems cannot be based entirely on renewable energy sources, delegates at the World Nuclear Association's annual Symposium in London heard today. However, they were told a new energy narrative is needed to overcome the mixed messages from the nuclear industry that has stymied public support.

Nuclear power is one of the most important technologies that can help the world to limit global warming to 2ºC, said OECD agencies in a Technology Roadmap for nuclear that spells out some steps to ensure this happens.

Investments totalling some $1.2 trillion could be made in new nuclear power projects around the world, according to the latest forecast by the World Nuclear Association. More than half of this total will be made in Asia.

There is certainly nothing wrong with the basic tenets of radiological protection, but their application without heed to non-radiological hazards can lead seriously astray, writes Jack Valentin, an independent radiological protection consultant.

Global governance of nuclear energy should evolve from a 'bottom-up' approach and be designed to facilitate growth of the energy source, said industry at the World Energy Congress in Daegu, Korea.

World electricity demand is likely to grow by over 80% by 2040, and nuclear energy capacity will need to double to help to meet it, according to figures from Exxon Mobil. The company's analysis triggered a lively exchange at the WNA Annual Symposium in London.

Designers of nuclear plants should have more responsibility over plant design throughout the operating lifetimes of all their reactors, according to a new study by a working group of the World Nuclear Association.