Nuclear electricity generation capacity in the Middle East is expected to increase from 3.6 gigawatts this year to 14.1 GWe by 2028 thanks to new construction start-ups and recent agreements between Middle Eastern countries and nuclear vendors, the US Energy Information Administration said yesterday. The United Arab Emirates will lead near-term growth by installing 5.4 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2020, it said.

A "substantial" increase in the level of European Union funding for future Euratom research programmes is required if the EU is to maintain its share of nuclear electricity, according to Foratom, the European nuclear trade body.

Those who enter the workforce in the coming years will be greeted with the opportunity to be a part of one of Canada's most exciting industries, Glenn Thibeault, Ontario's energy minister, told delegates at the Canadian Nuclear Association's Annual Conference & Trade Show, which was held in Ottawa on 23 February.

The revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for its next phase (2021-2030) was approved by the Council of the European Union yesterday. Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, welcomed the reform but said more must be done to decarbonise Europe's economy.

The Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa has today called on the country's energy industry and the government to take a long-term view of energy planning and not be distracted by current oversupply. NIASA's comments were in reaction to yesterday's budget speech by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.

US industry groups have submitted a white paper setting out recommendations on how the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission can streamline licensing of advanced reactors. Meanwhile, the US Nuclear Energy Institute has hailed an NRC decision that a voluntary industry initiative can effectively address an electrical system vulnerability as a "win" for regulatory streamlining.

The UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has today launched two consultations on the management of radioactive waste. The consultations are on a draft national policy statement for geological disposal infrastructure and on Working with Communities as part of the search for a host for the GDF. Both consultations started today and run until 19 April.

This may be a "watershed" year for the US nuclear industry, which must maintain a strong domestic sector by keeping its reactors operating but must also demonstrate it can build new plants, while paving the way for advanced reactors, the Nuclear Energy Institute's John Kotek told the US Energy Association's State of the Energy Forum on 18 January.

The OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency has produced a new report that highlights the value of an "all-hazards approach" to emergency preparedness and response. The report incorporates the lessons learned from non-nuclear events.

The Minerals Council of Australia has repeated its call for the Australian government to lift a ban on the development of nuclear power. Australia must reform its taxation, industrial relations, environmental and energy policies to shield the nation from future economic downturn and deliver stronger economic growth, the council said in its pre-Budget submission to the federal government.

The UK government aims to maintain as many of the benefits the country has enjoyed from its membership of the European Atomic Energy Community since joining the EU and Euratom in 1973 through a "close and effective association" in the future, Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy told Parliament yesterday. The UK will exit Euratom at the same time as withdrawing from the EU, on 29 March 2019.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday terminated proceedings on Energy Secretary Rick Perry's proposed rulemaking on grid resilience and reliability, which would have recognised the attributes of generation sources able to store fuel on site. FERC has instead launched a new proceeding to "holistically" examine the resilience of the system.