Belgium's Constitutional Court has rejected Electrabel's appeal against the legality of the nuclear tax contribution imposed by the government for 2013. The company maintains that the level of tax does not reflect deteriorating market conditions in which it operates.

Women in Nuclear has leant its support to a civil society campaign for nuclear energy to be recognised as a low-carbon option for fighting climate change.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, expects an inter-governmental agreement on the key commercial terms of a project to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant will be ready to sign this autumn.

France's National Assembly yesterday gave final approval of the country's energy transition bill. Under the legislation, France's reliance on nuclear energy will be reduced to 50% of power generation by 2025.

Nuclear fuel will be loaded at Sendai 1 tomorrow, marking a significant step on its road to becoming the first Japanese reactor to restart, later this year.

Germany's coalition government parties have agreed on measures to enable the country to meet its 2020 carbon emission targets while transitioning to renewable energy sources. As part of the deal, some coal-fuelled power plants will be shut down with others kept in reserve in case of energy shortages.

Ukraine is preparing the legal document required to cancel its contract with Russia concerning the completion of two units at the Khmelnitski nuclear power plant. The move was announced yesterday by Svetlana Kulchitskaya, deputy head of the atomic energy and nuclear industry department of the Ministry of Energy and Coal.

South Korea's oldest operating reactor unit will close in 2017 without a licence extension, said operator Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP).

Climate concerns demand trillions of dollars of new sustainable energy infrastructure, said the World Energy Council, adding that it will not happen without a clear climate framework and a global emissions target.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Illinois State Capitol yesterday to call for the passage of low carbon energy legislation underpinned by the continued operation of the state's nuclear capacity.

Uniper will be the name of the non-renewable company to spin off from EOn. The name means 'Unique Performance' and the company will own stakes in 17 operating reactors across Germany and Sweden.

US and European Union-imposed economic sanctions on Russia have had no direct impact on Rosatom, but the state nuclear corporation "regularly faces pressure" from Western governments and negative publicity in the media, its director general has said.