The UK's nuclear industry has demonstrated its flexibility and inherent safety culture during the COVID-19 crisis, and ought to be given a key role in the country's low-carbon economic recovery, World Nuclear Association said in interviews with the BBC this week.

The UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has produced an overview of the Cross-industry Learning initiative series of workshops it has been having over the last two years. Each workshop has been based on a series of themes of common interest originally agreed with the Oil and Gas Authority, but now more than 100 organisations, including authorities, academics and regulators have benefitted from sharing "what good looks like, and occasionally what it doesn’t", the NDA said.

Construction of the 49,000-tonne concrete basemat for the nuclear island of the second unit at Hinkley Point C has been completed. EDF Energy said the milestone had coincided with its ambition to spend GBP1.5 billion (USD1.9 billion) with regional businesses in South-West England five years ahead of target.

EDF Energy announced today it has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast of England. The application, which follows four rounds of public consultation that began in 2012, was deferred for two months "in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances created by the Coronavirus", the French-owned company said.

The European Court of Justice should dismiss an appeal brought by Austria in respect of the European Commission's approval of state aid for the planned Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power plant in the UK, Advocate General Gerard Hogan has concluded. His opinion will be taken into account when the European Court of Justice rules on Austria's appeal of the General Court's 2018 decision to reject the case.

The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory has signed an agreement - known as a Practical Arrangement - with the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at enhancing cooperation.

Scientists working on the Joint European Torus device have discovered that neon could be used to force extreme heat load away from a fusion reactor's exhaust system while maintaining high performance. Recent tests used neon to radiate and improve the edge of plasma known as a 'pedestal', which separates the very hot core from a cooler layer and away from material surfaces.

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, Sellafield Ltd says it has taken some precautionary actions at its site in north-west England, including the controlled shutdown of the Magnox Reprocessing Plant. The reprocessing plant is approaching its 60th year and is a complex chemical facility designed to process and separate plutonium and uranium.

Turkey's state-owned EUAS International ICC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Rolls-Royce to evaluate the technical, economical and legal applicability of small modular reactors. In addition, they will consider the possibility of joint production of such reactors.

There is a low level of awareness among young people in the UK that nuclear power is a low-carbon source of energy, according to research commissioned by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. This shows that the government needs to ensure that nuclear is included in all its communications about low-carbon power and energy sources, IMechE said.

The United Nations' climate talks this year can be a moment where the world comes together to ramp up momentum towards a climate-resilient, zero-carbon economy, COP26 President Designate Alok Sharma told UN Member States at the organisation's headquarters in New York on 6 March. Sharma said it was time to "send out a message of ambition and hope, that decarbonisation is the future, with huge opportunities for those who are willing to act now".

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory have agreed an action plan to boost collaboration in energy, medical isotopes, waste management and decommissioning, while the Canadian Nuclear Association and the UK's Nuclear Industry Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in promoting nuclear technologies.