Germany's Energiewende policy has made things worse for the climate by shutting down carbon-free nuclear capacity and locking in the dependency on coal burning for decades, despite hundreds of billions in investments and subsidy-schemes. This is the conclusion of the European Climate Leadership Report 2017, Measuring the Metrics that Matter published last week in Bonn, Germany, at Conference of the Parties 23 by the NGO Energy for Humanity.

Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Jordan Atomic Energy Commission to conduct a technical feasibility study for the construction of a Rolls-Royce small modular reactor in the Middle Eastern country. The signing took place at the British Embassy in Paris between Alan Woods, strategy and business development director at Rolls-Royce, and Kamal Araj, JAEC vice chairman.

World Nuclear Association asks UN Environment to join other leading international bodies in recognising that nuclear energy is an important part of the solution to climate change. We hope to see nuclear energy represented alongside renewables in future UN Environment dialogues on clean energy, innovation and sustainable development, writes Agneta Rising.

Construction of units 5 and 6 of South Korea's Shin Kori nuclear power plant looks set to resume after an independent panel today recommended completion of the project. Work on the units - about 30% complete - was suspended in July after President Moon Jae-in issued an administrative order to halt their construction.

Corporate leadership, knowledge transfer to the 'young generation' and providing the necessary support to new units entering operations were among the subjects under discussion during the World Association of Nuclear Operators' 14th Biennial General Meeting, held in Gyeongju, South Korea. The BGM, under the theme of Leading Nuclear Safety in a Changing World, was attended by more than 300 experts from the WANO membership and other industry organisations.

The International Youth Nuclear Congress and World Association of Nuclear Operators have signed a memorandum of understanding "to reflect enhanced cooperation between both organisations in the promotion of nuclear safety and in meeting goals related to young generation initiatives and objectives".

Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, yesterday published the priorities for Brexit negotiations in relation to the nuclear industry. The organisation said the European Union and UK should immediately start negotiating their post-Brexit relationship and, if necessary, transitional arrangements in order to avoid any disruption to the nuclear fuel cycle.

The UK government has published in parliament its Nuclear Safeguards Bill to establish a domestic nuclear safeguards regime in preparation for the country's departure from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The bill was introduced to the House of Commons and given its first reading yesterday. This stage is formal and takes place without any debate. MPs will next consider the bill at second reading on 16 October.

European Utility Requirements (EUR) has approved modifications Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co Ltd has made to its APR1400 reactor design, according to Reuters. The approval by EUR - a technical advisory group for European utilities on nuclear power plants - means South Korea's state-run nuclear operator can further expand its export markets.

Nuclear Energy Institute CEO Maria Korsnick has urged the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to move quickly to implement a proposed rulemaking on electricity market reforms. Korsnick made her comments to a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel hearing on defining reliability in a transforming electricity industry.

The World Association of Nuclear Operators and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency are to cooperate on "the further development of approaches, practices and methods in order to proactively strengthen global nuclear safety" through a memorandum of understanding signed today at the NEA Headquarters in Paris. The signing ceremony was attended by WANO Chairman Jacques Régaldo and NEA Deputy Director-General and Chief Nuclear Officer Daniel Iracane.

Historical experience of estimating decommissioning costs has not been particularly satisfactory. In response to this, the process of decommissioning cost estimation is evolving, writes Simon Carroll.