The UK's Nuclear Industry Association has welcomed new official data from the Office for National Statistics which it said shows the "vital contribution nuclear power generation makes to the economy". The statistics, released for the first time and part of the low-carbon and renewable energy data series, show nuclear generation and new build activities contributed £3.5 billion to the economy in 2014, with 15,500 people employed full time.

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".

Five years after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi, the scientific community is ready to assess what the real health consequences have been and put them into perspective with other risks in our lives, Gerry Thomas told the BBC in an interview.

The nuclear industry today stands at a critical juncture and it is time to reassess our approach to each other and the wider world if we are to make the most of our opportunities, writes Preston Swafford.

Hungary has so far failed to explain how the Paks nuclear power plant expansion project does not conflict with state aid rules, the European Commission said yesterday. In response, the Hungarian government said the EC's investigation of the matter contains "a number of inaccuracies and misunderstandings" as well as "unfounded and misleading assertions".

The UK nuclear industry has published a Concordat on Public Engagement. Andrew Sherry, who has led the work as part of the Nuclear Industry Council, explains why.

(Updated with comment from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) The UK will invest at least £250 million ($377 million) over the next five years in an "ambitious" nuclear research and development program, according to the Conservative Party-led government's Spending Review and Autumn Statement published yesterday. British Chancellor George Osborne's 'Comprehensive Spending Review' says this program will "revive the UK's nuclear expertise" and position the country as "a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies".

Despite a growing sense of urgency over the need for reliable low-carbon electricity sources, the developed world seems to have lost the art of taking difficult but necessary decisions, preferring to chase after dreams and shadows, writes Malcolm Grimston.

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 fuel will be loaded at Sendai 1 tomorrow, marking a significant step on its road to becoming the first Japanese reactor to restart, later this year.

Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power plant operator, has drawn attention to misreporting by some Ukrainian media that have claimed the country's regulator does not intend to renew the operating licence of unit 2 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant.

Public support for nuclear energy in the USA is increasing with more than two-thirds of citizens favourable towards it, according to a new survey commissioned by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).