A new report published today by the UK's Nuclear Sector Deal’s Innovation Group presents a series of recommendations for realising the opportunity of zero-carbon hydrogen from nuclear energy. Its findings follow a Nuclear Hydrogen Roundtable event, which brought together over 80 experts and industry leaders from across the hydrogen value chain.

Rolls-Royce and Cavendish Nuclear have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the potential for their cooperation in the Rolls-Royce SMR programme. Under the agreement, they have committed to working together to develop the roles that Cavendish Nuclear can perform in the design, licensing, manufacturing and delivery aspects of the Rolls-Royce "factory-fabricated small modular nuclear power plant".

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has informed the agency's Board of Governors that Iran intends to use indigenously-produced uranium enriched up to 20% U-235 in the manufacture of fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, an IAEA spokesperson told World Nuclear News today. In doing so, as part of a multi-stage process, Iran will also produce uranium metal enriched up to 20% U-235.

Nuclear energy has been excluded from the UK government's Green Financing Framework, while several EU Member States have written to the European Commission to oppose nuclear's inclusion in the bloc's green taxonomy.

The UK government must make urgent decisions in this Parliament to restore UK nuclear capacity to at least 10 GW based on deployable technologies by the early 2030s, according to a report produced by a cross-party group of Members of Parliament. Meanwhile, the government has announced an earlier target for the phaseout of coal and a bill to reflect the country's freedom from EU state aid rules.

The UK government and EDF have agreed improved arrangements to safely and efficiently decommission Britain’s seven Advanced Gas Reactor nuclear power plants that are scheduled to reach the end of their operational lives this decade. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the deal, which was signed yesterday, will save the UK taxpayer about GBP1 billion (USD1.4 billion), as EDF and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority forge a new partnership.

The UK must develop advanced nuclear fuels and fuel cycle technologies in order to meet its clean energy ambitions, according to a new series of roadmaps released by the National Nuclear Laboratory. The roadmaps, it says, will enable UK policy makers and industry to plan for the future of nuclear in delivering net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Diverse, scalable and low-cost applications for nuclear technologies have for the first time been fully represented across the whole energy system in a new modelling report published last week by the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory. The work, which was completed through the Advanced Fuel Cycle Programme, reveals potential routes to de-risk and lower the cost of achieving net zero. AFCP is led by NNL in partnership with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as part of the GBP505 million (USD702 million) Energy Innovation Programme.

British engineering firm Rolls-Royce will ensure its new products are compatible with net zero by 2030 and its whole business by 2050. Small modular reactors will play a role in meeting these targets. In June 2020, Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East joined the UN High Level Climate Champions to launch the Race to Zero, the United Nation's campaign to mobilise leadership of businesses, cities and investors to commit to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century at the latest.

Canadian company General Fusion is to build and operate a plant to demonstrate its nuclear fusion technology at UKAEA's Culham Campus near Oxford in the UK. The Fusion Demonstration Plant will pave the way for a commercial pilot plant using Magnetised Target Fusion technology and is expected to begin operations in 2025.

Nuclear experts at The University of Manchester have identified the eight actions required to assess objectively the role of nuclear in the UK's net-zero future. Their position paper Nuclear energy for net zero: a strategy for action determines what policymakers and industry need to explore in order to take an informed decision based on a 'best economics' basis. This includes the development of advisory bodies, non-partisan modelling of the economic path, and the optimisation of R&D programmes.

The possible roles of advanced nuclear energy in meeting the UK’s legally binding net zero by 2050 target are not well understood and need to be clarified urgently, write Francis Livens, Gregg Butler, Juan Matthews and William Bodel of The University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute.