The US power sector made significant progress in the transition away from coal in 2019, driving substantial reductions in pollution from the power sector, according to a newly released benchmarking study of the country's 100 largest power producers. Nuclear made up 55% of the USA's zero-carbon resources.

Sama Bilbao y Leon of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency describes how resilience - the capacity to withstand and bounce back from major disruptions - takes many forms at nuclear power plants. The following is an abridged version of the presentation she gave during the webinar the Paris-based organisation held today to discuss its newly published Policy Brief, Building low-carbon resilient electricity infrastructures with nuclear energy in the post-COVID-19 era.

Foratom says it "remains concerned" that the European Commission is paying "insufficient attention" to low-carbon, non-fossil fuel sources of hydrogen, such as nuclear. The EU nuclear trade association was responding to two strategies the Commission released on 8 July for energy sector integration and hydrogen. Foratom said it welcomed the addition of a 'low-carbon hydrogen' category but said its usage should not be limited to the short and medium term.

Building new nuclear capacity does not need to be risky or expensive, a new report from the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency has found. The organisation has called for government action to support a rapid reduction in the costs of new nuclear capacity by creating policy frameworks that capture and apply the lessons learned and capabilities developed over recent years.

To coincide with the publication of the World Nuclear Association's technical position paper The Enduring Value of Nuclear Energy Assets, World Nuclear News interviewed the co-chairs of the Long-term Operation Task Force, Michael Baron and Abdou Al Mazouzi.

More governments must introduce policies to support the long-term operation of nuclear power plants to maximise the environmental, employment and economic benefits they bring, the World Nuclear Association said yesterday on the publication of its new technical position paper The Enduring Value of Nuclear Energy Assets.

Ukraine's electricity market discriminates against nuclear power and recent reforms do little to help Energoatom's mounting debts, Petro Kotin, acting president of the state-owned nuclear power plant operator has said. Recent amendments to electricity market regulations enable Energoatom to sell just 5% of its generation through bilateral contracts, but the company wants this to be increased to 50%.

Weaker economic activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic means that S&P Global Ratings' base-case assumptions for power prices in some of Europe's main markets in 2020-2021 are now up to 20% lower than its previous assumptions in November 2019. This, it says, is despite a drastic cut in French nuclear power production rates over the coming three years.

The world is not on track to meet the energy-related components of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario outlines a major transformation of the global energy system, showing how the world can change course to deliver on the three main energy-related SDGs simultaneously.

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.

Investing in nuclear power as part of the post-virus recovery would help stimulate the economy and ease the path towards carbon neutrality, World Nuclear Association said on 29 May, following the ministerial roundtable on Mobilising Investments for Secure and Sustainable Power Systems that was co-hosted earlier that day by the International Energy Agency and the UK government.

Overall energy demand will fall 6% in 2020, while demand for electricity is set to decline by 5%, according to a report by the International Energy Agency assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy system. Global carbon dioxide emissions are expected to decline by almost 8% compared with 2019.