Uranium investment company Uranium Participation Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement with Sprott Asset Management LP to convert UPC into the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust and pursue listing on US stock exchanges. Denison Mines Inc's Management Services Agreement with UPC will be terminated, with Denison set to receive a termination payment estimated at CAD5.3 million (USD4.3 million).

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has unanimously voted to extend the zero emission certificates for the Hope Creek and Salem nuclear power plants for an additional three years.

Finance must be mobilised at "an absolutely unprecedented level" if a net-zero economy is to be created as rapidly as required, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said at the Leaders Summit on Climate last week. The magnitude of this challenge means that governments alone "cannot possibly" find all the necessary investment, he added.

The USA has pledged to cut its CO2 emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. US President Joe Biden announced the target at the Leaders Summit on Climate that he is hosting today and tomorrow to encourage increased ambition in combatting climate change. The event coincides with Earth Day, the annual event first held on 22 April 1970.

The European Commission today announced its decision to include nuclear energy in a complementary Delegated Act of the EU Taxonomy Regulation. The decision follows the recent publication of the Joint Research Centre's report confirming nuclear is as sustainable as other taxonomy-compliant energy technologies.

An independent financial audit requested by the state of Illinois has found the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants face "real risk" of becoming uneconomic in the near term. State support could help provide security for the plants to be part of a strategy for Illinois to transition to less carbon-emitting resources, the report finds.

The nuclear power industry and its supply chain already conforms with the environment, social and governance principles being discussed by investors, delegates at the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle forum heard on 14 April. However, speakers in a session on ESG investments in the nuclear fuel cycle called for the industry to be more vocal in getting this message across.

The nuclear industry has for too long taken a passive role in debates that determine how its technology is perceived by the public, but the climate crisis demands active communication about its many benefits, Rauli Partanen, the CEO of Think Atom, said yesterday in his address to delegates at the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle forum. In his keynote speech, Selling the benefits instead of the fear - How to turn the discussion on the future of nuclear into an expansive and progressive one, Partanen said the positive facts about nuclear are lost to poor messaging.

Uranium companies in Australia and Canada have announced purchases of physical uranium holdings. Boss Resources says its strategic uranium acquisition will strengthen its position as it moves forward towards the restart of the Honeymoon project in South Australia. Vancouver, Canada-based Uranium Royalty Corp is to buy USD10 million of physical uranium through a supply agreement with Yellow Cake plc.

The nuclear industry has today called on the European Commission to expedite the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance, following a comprehensive assessment that nuclear energy does no more harm to human health or the environment than any other power-producing technology considered to be sustainable.

The Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade has selected EDF, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Rosatom and Westinghouse to participate in a pre-qualification round for a tender to supply a new unit for the Dukovany nuclear power plant. The ministry has not included China General Nuclear. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic told Radiožurnál that the exclusion of CGN "seriously deviates from the principle of fair competition and the rules of international trade".

A working paper published by the International Monetary Fund last week uses multiplier analysis to determine the impact that investment in clean energy would have on the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.  The document - Building Back Better: How Big Are Green Spending Multipliers? - states clean energy sources are: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and nuclear, which it then divides into renewable and non-renewable.