A training course at the US Department of Energy's Hanford site is using an "escape room" to help employees learn to perform under pressure while using respiratory protection equipment.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is using immersive virtual reality to help nuclear power plant operators train personnel for outage, operations and maintenance work ahead of the spring 2022 outage season. The Nuclear Virtual Reality Solution at the company's Wilmington, North Carolina, headquarters is also being used to provide plant-specific technical training.

The UK's GMB union has warned that decarbonisation goals and nuclear industry jobs will both be at risk unless the government supports Sizewell C and other new build efforts. The Trade Unions Congress adopted GMB's call, and separately added that UK manufacturing jobs would suffer if decarbonisation targets are not met.

Swiss drone developer Flyability has launched an indoor drone equipped with a radiation sensor specifically for conducting inspections at nuclear facilities. The Elios 2 RAD is designed to help maintain low radiation exposure levels to nuclear facility workers. It does this both by taking the place of personnel where possible for visual and radiation data collection, and by providing high-quality data for planning interventions that do require exposure, so that it can be kept to a minimum.

Eletronuclear has announced the winners of a tender to complete unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant in Rio de Janeiro. A Brazilian consortium comprising Ferreira Guedes, Matricial and ADtranz submitted the winning bid of Real 292 million (USD56.1 million), which Eletronuclear said is 16% lower than the reference value for the project. In total, two companies and five consortia participated in the opening session of the proposals, held on 29 June.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun construction at its Seibersdorf facility near Vienna of a new building that will house a nuclear security training centre. The IAEA Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre - scheduled to be operational in 2023 - will help strengthen countries' abilities to tackle nuclear terrorism in areas such as the illegal trafficking of nuclear material and the physical protection of facilities and major public events.

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.

Preserving the existing fleet of nuclear plants, driving the development of advanced reactors and investing in nuclear R&D are all essential to the USA's clean energy transition, Jennifer Granholm, secretary of the US Department of Energy, stressed this week. Speaking at the annual general meeting of the American Nuclear Society, Granholm told nuclear industry workers and students watching the webinar: "We need you".

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has marked four years and more than 100 million safe man-hours without a Lost Time Injury at the Barakah nuclear power plant. ENEC says the milestone sets a new benchmark for industrial safety for nuclear new-build projects around the world.

A new Master's degree programme, launched as part of the European Safeguards Training and Education project, will help ensure academics and safeguards inspectors "stay connected and do not drift away from each other", Massimo Aparo, head of the Department of Safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said today.

Nuclear energy is "a key pillar" of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y León said today during the launch of Rosatom's Atoms for Humanity initiative. However, she said the benefits to society of nuclear science and technology beyond that of electricity generation need to be more widely appreciated.

True diversity in the workplace means heightened standards for all, writes Adriènne Kelbie in her final external article before stepping down as Chief Executive of the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation.