Entergy is discussing a potential sale of the James A Fitzpatrick nuclear power plant to Exelon, offering the possibility of keeping the single-unit plant in operation beyond 2017. Exelon has confirmed that it will invest millions of dollars to keep Fitzpatrick and its other nuclear power plants in upstate New York in operation if a support mechanism proposed by the New York State Department of Public Service last week is approved.

A diverse and balanced energy mix is best for people and the planet. Achieving this globally means nuclear energy should really expand more than most expect, but this requires a concerted effort by the entire nuclear community and its stakeholders to remove barriers to growth, writes Agneta Rising.

Iran and Bulgaria have agreed to exchange experience in nuclear energy, Bulgaria's cabinet of ministers announced yesterday, following a meeting in Tehran between Bulgarian energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova and deputy prime minister Tomislav Donchev with Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

The New York Department of Public Service has put forward a proposal to help preserve New York's upstate nuclear power plants by valuing their zero-emissions attributes based on the social cost of carbon. The department estimates that the state will realize $5 billion in benefits in the first two years alone if the proposal is implemented.

Rosatom and the ministry of hydrocarbons and energy of Bolivia have signed a memorandum on personnel training and education in nuclear power, and a separate memorandum to cooperate on public acceptance projects. Announcing the agreements today, the Russian state nuclear corporation said the framework for cooperation had thus been set in two key areas of Bolivia's nuclear power program.

Preserving existing nuclear capacity and preparing to build large amounts of new nuclear capacity in the next decade are strategic imperatives for the USA, the Nuclear Energy Institute has told the US Department of Energy.

Bulgaria has signed a €72 million ($80 million) agreement with a consortium to build a radioactive waste repository for its Kozloduy nuclear power plant that is expected start operations in 2021, the country's energy ministry said yesterday. The consortium consists of German Nukem Technologies, which is owned by Russia's AtomStroyExport, and four Bulgarian companies.

Andrea Leadsom, minister of state at the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change, has reiterated the important role of nuclear power in the country's current and future electricity mix. In a speech at the Utility Week Energy Summit about the Future of Energy in the UK yesterday, Leadsom said "energy security is non-negotiable, and is our top priority".

The conclusion of a consultation with EDF's Central Works Council yesterday has cleared the way for a final investment decision to be made on the Hinkley Point C project. In addition, the French state-owned company said the UK referendum vote to leave the European Union is no barrier to the new nuclear power plant project, which is based in Somerset, England.

A regional court in Hannover has ruled that EOn is not entitled to €382 million ($426 million) in compensation it sought for the forced shut down of its Isar 1 and Unterweser nuclear power units in 2011.

Following more than two years of work, a commission looking into the storage of Germany's high-level radioactive waste has today submitted its final report to the country's government. The report provides a recommended method for the disposal of the waste in a geologic repository.

Poland is "taking all the necessary measures" to ensure its nuclear power program meets the highest standards of safety and security and best international practice, Józef Sobolewski, director of the nuclear energy department of the country's Ministry of Energy, has said. Sobolewski's comments followed the conclusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Poland has implemented all the recommendations and suggestions of a 2013 Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review mission.