A future low-carbon energy system based on variable renewables will require the backup of additional flexible capacity, according to an updated report commissioned by European nuclear trade body Foratom. It says nuclear provides a key competitive advantage as it is the only dispatchable, low-carbon and non-weather dependent technology which can support the energy system transition under secure conditions.

Ministers from Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland (the Visegrad 4) met in Paks and agreed: "Without nuclear power it will not be possible to achieve the goals of climate neutrality." They called on the European Commission to approve its inclusion in the taxonomy of sustainable investments.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he is "absolutely confident" that "some arrangement" will be made to accept nuclear energy in the EU's taxonomy of sustainable investment. In an on-stage interview at COP26, he said the escalation of gas prices has increased political interest in nuclear power.

European industry body Foratom is hopeful that a new conversation around nuclear energy in light of the continent's gas crisis will bring the policy framework needed for it to make a major contribution to 2030 energy targets, a Moody's webinar heard.

A European Commission communication that includes a "toolbox" that the EU and its Member States can use to address the immediate impact of high energy prices fails to mention nuclear energy's contribution, Foratom said. By including nuclear, the EU would have a unique opportunity for limiting its dependence on carbon intensive natural gas imports, thereby reducing its exposure to wholesale price fluctuations and its carbon footprint, the European nuclear trade body added.

Nuclear energy must be included in the framework of the European taxonomy before the end of this year, energy and economy ministers from ten EU member states said in a joint article published in several European newspapers yesterday. The ministers said nuclear energy is "an affordable, stable and independent energy resource". The Czech Ministry of Energy described the nations as a 'Nuclear Alliance'.

Given the EU's legally binding 2050 comprehensive decarbonisation policy with adequate CO2 pricing, the closure of many large nuclear power plants in Belgium and Germany, and an EU-wide coal power phase out by 2030-2050 and the inability of intermittent renewable energy to supply the scale and quality of energy needed for continent-scale decarbonisation, there is a strong business case to deploy small modular reactors in the EU by 2040, writes Kalev Kallemets, co-founder and CEO of Fermi Energia.

The PRISMAP network was recently launched which will see more than 20 European academic institutions and research centres pooling their knowledge, expertise and infrastructure to speed up the introduction of new medical radioisotopes. The network aims to provide a sustainable source of high-purity grade novel radionuclides for medical research.

The European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency have extended a 2013 agreement to cooperate on nuclear safety. Their cooperation has already led to over one hundred nuclear safety review missions, environmental remediation at former uranium sites in Central Asia and more effective radioactive waste management in Africa.

The nuclear medicine sector is a small part of the wider nuclear industry, but it provides some of the most pioneering technologies in healthcare - and is close to making personalised medicine a reality. Antonis Kalemis, president of Nuclear Medicine Europe and business manager for molecular imaging at Siemens Healthineers, describes how nuclear medicine also tackles the most trenchant condition in modern healthcare: cancer.

Nuclear energy must be included in a delegated act of the European taxonomy, 18 trade unions in the energy sector from 10 European Union countries have told Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. In a joint letter, the unions called for "a dialogue with the purpose of nuclear energy to play its full potential and build an economically efficient and socially just carbon-free Europe by 2050".

Foratom has welcomed the European Commission's proposed Fit for 55 to make the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies 'fit' for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, but says the target leaves open key questions. How will be this transition financed? Will we have enough low-carbon energy to meet our needs? How can we ensure that industries are able to decarbonise their manufacturing processes whilst remaining competitive? And how can we mitigate potential social impacts (e.g. job losses and energy poverty)?