The USA must ensure continued implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, as well as taking an economy-wide approach to decarbonisation - including a reinvigoration of the nuclear energy option, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in his formal roundup of US Department of Energy (DOE) achievements during the administration of President Barack Obama.

The US is set to become a net energy exporter over the period to 2050, but the nation's nuclear generation will decline over the period as new build and capacity uprates are outpaced by retirements, according to newly published projections from the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA).

Japan needs to work towards bringing its reactors back online if the country is to meet its climate goals, Akio Takahashi, president of the Japan Atomic Industry Forum, said this week. Nuclear energy currently accounts for just 1.1% of Japan's electricity production and commercial operation has been resumed at only three of the country's nuclear power plants - Sendai 1, Sendai 2 and Ikata 3.

The International Atomic Energy Agency today outlined its highlights for 2016, ahead of its 60th anniversary year. These included a report on verification and monitoring in Iran, the entry into force of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, response to the outbreak of the Zika crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the promotion of safe nuclear solutions towards sustainable development worldwide.

Premature retirement of US nuclear power plants could be a major threat to efforts to reduce carbon emissions in both the short and long terms, a new report by the Brattle Group has found.

The Czech Republic needs to decide on the mechanisms for financing the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants "as soon as possible", the executive director of the International Energy Agency said this week.

Hungary's commitment to nuclear power reflects its dedication to meeting ambitious global climate change targets as outlined by the International Energy Agency, government officials told delegates at the Budapest Energy Summit last week. Hungary joined the IEA in 1997.

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, highlighted the role of nuclear science and technology in sustainable development.

Illinois governor Bruce Rauner yesterday signed energy legislation that will ensure the continued operation of the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants.

Wind and solar power are transforming the electricity industry, but not fast enough to put the world on track for the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement target to hold the global temperature increase well below 2°C, according to László Varró, chief economist of the International Energy Agency. This "climate stabilisation" target needs nuclear power to play a significant role in the low-carbon power mix, Varró told delegates at the Budapest Energy Summit yesterday.

Legislators in the US state of Illinois yesterday passed a bill recognising the contribution of nuclear energy to the state's clean energy efforts and ensuring the continued operation of the state's nuclear power plants. The Future Energy Jobs Bill will also advance renewable energy and expand energy efficiency initiatives.

Agneta Rising, director-general of the World Nuclear Association, has called on Conference of the Parties to make it clear that nuclear energy will be part of their response to succeed in action on climate change. "France, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada's province of Ontario, have all achieved more than 80% low-carbon electricity generation by using nuclear energy in harmony with renewables," Rising said yesterday at a press conference hosted by the Russian delegation to the UNFCCC COP 22 climate change conference in Marrakesh.