The board of directors of French utility EDF yesterday approved the terms of the protocol negotiated between the company and the government for setting compensation for the closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant. Under France's energy policy, Fessenheim - the country's oldest nuclear power plant - must close when the Flamanville EPR is commissioned in late 2018.

As the UK government moves towards the formal process to exit the EU, Jonathan Leech and Rupert Cowen consider the implications of Brexit for the nation's membership of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

One year on from implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the US president said the agreement with Iran "must be measured against the alternatives". Meanwhile, Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran for International, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, is on a two-day visit to Moscow to discuss progress with the JCPOA.

The shareholders of Chinese coal miner Wintime Energy have approved its proposed investment in Hinkley Point C - EDF and China General Nuclear's project to build two European Pressurised Water reactors in Somerset, England. Wintime Energy, known as Wing Tai Energy in Chinese, announced its plan to invest up to three billion yuan ($440 million) in HPC through a wholly owned subsidiary of New Energy, Huayuan New Energy, on 13 December.

The International Atomic Energy Agency today outlined its highlights for 2016, ahead of its 60th anniversary year. These included a report on verification and monitoring in Iran, the entry into force of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, response to the outbreak of the Zika crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the promotion of safe nuclear solutions towards sustainable development worldwide.

Japan and the UK will expand their existing collaboration in civil nuclear activities - including decommissioning, research and development, and nuclear new build - through a memorandum of cooperation signed yesterday in Tokyo.

The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has entered into follow-on cooperative agreements with three projects aimed at securing a domestic supply of molybdenum-99 without using highly enriched uranium. The latest funding completes the full $25 million NNSA contribution to each project.

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has signed a memorandum of cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy with two Japanese ministries. One key area of cooperation under the agreement will be post-accident recovery at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Wind and solar power are transforming the electricity industry, but not fast enough to put the world on track for the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement target to hold the global temperature increase well below 2°C, according to László Varró, chief economist of the International Energy Agency. This "climate stabilisation" target needs nuclear power to play a significant role in the low-carbon power mix, Varró told delegates at the Budapest Energy Summit yesterday.

United Innovation Corporation, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazilian consultancy CK3 for the development, construction and operation of an irradiation centre in Brazil. The document was signed by the director-generals of the two companies, respectively, Denis Cherednichenko and Renato Cherkezian.

Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Limited has won a bid to acquire a 17% stake in Yangjiang Nuclear Power Company Limited from China General Nuclear. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2017.

A memorandum of understanding aimed at promoting cooperation on nuclear safety regulation was recently signed between South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.