Countries have "re-appreciated" the value of nuclear power, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said at COP26 today. Birol, who called for new build in Europe, North America and Asia, also said that national commitments made at COP26 would put the world on track to limit global warming to 1.8°C.

NuScale Power of the USA and Romanian national nuclear company Nuclearelectrica plan to construct a NuScale small modular reactor plant in Romania by 2028. The announcement came during a meeting yesterday between US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the sidelines of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

Bulgarian Energy Holding has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with US engineering firm Fluor to look at the possibility of replacing coal boilers with NuScale small nuclear reactors, among other things. The country has committed to stop using coal for electricity generation by 2037 or 2040.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and BWXT Canada have entered into a teaming agreement to cooperate on engineering and procurement to support the design, manufacturing and commercialisation of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor. The BWRX-300 is one of three SMR designs under consideration for deployment at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power plan to leverage data gathered through decades of experience of the storage of used Candu fuel to underpin cooperative research activities under a new Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations. They will engage in knowledge-sharing and other joint activities to advance storage, transportation and disposal practices for used fuel, and to explore opportunities to collaborate on nuclear decommissioning and waste management initiatives.

The UK nuclear insurance pool has expanded its capacity to EUR1.2 billion (USD1.4 billion), which will provide the "insurance certainty" to allow the nuclear sector to support the net zero transition, London-based Nuclear Risk Insurers said yesterday. It has finalised its position on covering the extensions of liability created as part of the 2004 Protocol Amendment to the Paris Convention which comes into force on 1 January 2022.

NuScale has signed a second agreement to consider its small reactors as a general replacement for coal units in Poland. The US small reactor vendor will support two energy firms, Poland-based Unimot and USA-based Getka, in their joint work to explore the possibility.

Westinghouse Electric Company and Ukrainian company NT-Engineering LLC have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to implement maintenance optimisation and system repair projects for VVER reactors. They said the work will increase the safety levels and performance of Ukrainian VVERs, improving annual power output and reducing operational costs.

Two separate agreements have been announced between Polish companies and North American small modular reactor vendors and suppliers. A memorandum of understanding between Cameco, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, GEH SMR Technologies Canada Ltd and Synthos Green Energy will see those companies evaluate a potential Canadian supply chain for a fleet of BWRX-300 reactors in Poland. Separately, NuScale Power, KGHM Polska Miedź SA and Piela Business Engineering are to explore the deployment of NuScale's SMR technology to repower or repurpose existing coal-fired power plants.

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.

With 44 days to go until the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, leaders from ten nations plus the European Commission, European Council and United Nations last week joined US President Joe Biden in a closed-door forum at which they underscored the urgency of strengthening climate ambition ahead of COP26 and beyond. The USA and the EU also announced a Global Methane Pledge to cut global methane pollution by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030 through collective action.

Australia is to acquire nuclear submarines as the first initiative under a new enhanced trilateral security partnership announced by the leaders of Australia, the UK and the USA. The submarines are to be built in Australia, but the country is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.