The experience of the coronavirus crisis has highlighted the crucial role of electricity in our lives but will also spur a transformation, with society being more outspoken in its demands for forceful action against climate change and threats to biodiversity, Jean-Bernard Lévy, chairman and CEO of EDF, said during today's plenary session of the Global Impact Conference - Energy for Impact.

All countries must work together in order to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, speakers agreed during today's plenary session of the Global Impact Conference - Energy for Impact. However, progress on meeting those goals is said to have been put back by up to 15 years by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The preparatory stage of the project to complete units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been completed and construction work has resumed, Piotr Kotin, acting president of Energoatom, announced last week. The project is part of a Ukrainian presidential decree of 22 September.

The UK Treasury said yesterday it is important to consider large-scale nuclear projects in addition to Hinkley Point C if the country is to meet its net-zero by 2050 target. This assessment rejects the advice of the National Infrastructure Commission two years ago that the government should not agree support for more than one nuclear power station beyond HPC, before 2025.

An inquiry into potential benefits to Victoria of removing prohibitions on nuclear activities has tabled its final report in the Australian state's parliament. Energy security, stability and accessibility, and the need to lower carbon emissions due to climate change should be the priority, regardless of technology, the report finds.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö yesterday discussed the use of nuclear energy in support of climate change goals, nuclear verification and possibilities for cooperation in nuclear safety projects in the Arctic. They also discussed strengthening cooperation between Finland and the IAEA, the upcoming Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and nuclear verification in Iran, including the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plans of Action.

The time has come to stop thinking about competition between different energy sources and instead look at how they can work together to achieve climate neutrality, Associate Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada Shawn Tupper said yesterday.

Fossil fuels will still make up more than 60% of Canada's fuel mix in 2050 without an accelerated energy transition, a new report from the Canada Energy Regulator has found. The report is the first in CER's Energy Futures series to extend the projection period to 2050 and introduces a new scenario to complement the series' traditional baseline projection.

The European Commission should include nuclear among the clean energy technologies that will be financed under the Green Deal low-carbon policy, EDF chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy said today in an online chat with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. Several European countries, he noted, are relying on nuclear generation to help them meet their energy and climate goals.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa is inviting public comment on the government's plans for the procurement of 2500 MW of new nuclear generation capacity. The regulator has published a 21-page consultation paper on which the public has until 5 February to comment. It will then hold public hearings through online platforms.

Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of French utility Engie - says it will not make any further investments at Doel unit 4 and Tihange unit 3 unless it is clearer whether the reactors will or will not be allowed to operate beyond 2025. A report due out at the end of next year may lead to the reactors being allowed to continue operating to ensure Belgium's energy security.

The UK's Nuclear Industry Association has welcomed the government's confirmation yesterday that nuclear power will play a role in achieving the country's net zero by 2050 target, but says clarity is still needed on large-scale projects. In its Ten Point Plan, the government refers to such support as being "subject to value-for-money".