EDF Energy, NuGeneration and Horizon Nuclear Power have all stressed their commitment to the UK's nuclear new build program, despite the country's decision to leave the European Union. Nevertheless, the majority vote in favour of 'Brexit' - decided in a national referendum held yesterday - may have implications for investment in new reactors and nuclear research, as well as for the UK's future role in meeting climate change targets, industry participants said.

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to launch the start of construction of a new laboratory building at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre at Karlsruhe in Germany. The new building will replace older ones on the site.

The design of European wholesale electricity markets and the emissions trading system will be improved to help - and no longer hinder - nuclear energy as a low-carbon source of electricity, a European Commission official assured delegates at a nuclear financing conference held in Paris last week. The conference, titled Nuclear energy's role in the 21st century: addressing the challenge of financing, was jointly organised by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation.

A crucial project at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant can now proceed to its final stages thanks to additional pledges by the international donor community at a conference in Kiev yesterday. On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and President of the European Council Donald Tusk held talks by telephone during which Tusk underlined the EU's "comprehensive support" to Ukraine in overcoming the consequences of the disaster.

The European Commission today pledged to the Nuclear Safety Account fund the largest part of the €45 million ($51 million) expected from the G7 and the Commission in addition to the existing support. This fund supports in particular the safe decommissioning of units 1 to 3 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The European Commission and Iran are to launch their first nuclear safety cooperation project under a joint statement issued during an EU delegation's visit to Tehran.

European electricity association Eurelectric has welcomed the European Commission's recently published Nuclear Illustrative Program (PINC), but expressed regrets at its failure to address the issue of premature reactor closures due to market conditions. European nuclear industry association Foratom also called on the PINC to address the impact of market conditions on nuclear investments.

Investment of between €350 billion ($399 billion) and €450 billion will be required over the next 35 years to maintain the European Union's nuclear generating capacity at between 95 and 105 GWe, according to the European Commission's latest Nuclear Illustrative Program.

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".

The European Commission has announced its approval of the partnership between EDF and China General Nuclear (CGN) for the development, construction and operation of three new nuclear power plants in the UK. The partnership complies with EU merger regulations, it said.

A consortium of four German companies has been awarded a contract to improve infrastructure for managing radioactive waste, the rehabilitation of contaminated areas and the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

French utility EDF is calling for "rapid and radical reform" of Europe's electricity market structure to allow for future investments in new generating capacity. This is needed, it says, to "face up to current challenges of the energy transition and to consumers' expectations".