The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the USA pledged yesterday to generate 50% of their energy using clean power sources by 2025, using sources including nuclear, renewable and carbon capture and storage technologies.

French utility EDF and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have today signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in civil nuclear power, including MHI taking a stake in Areva NP and joint development of the Atmea reactor design.

Russia's Research Institute of Atomic Reactors and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute have signed a memorandum of understanding on scientific and technical cooperation.

Global climate goals are "more achievable than previously thought" because of progress in nuclear power plant construction, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which also called for electricity markets to favour all low-carbon technologies.

The IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Storage Facility - or 'bank' - is scheduled to be ready for operations by September 2017, following the conclusion of a partnership agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Kazakhstan this week.

Rosatom estimates that the "economic potential" of agreements and memoranda signed at AtomExpo 2016 is as much as $10 billion. Its director general, Sergey Kirienko, said yesterday that about 30 documents had been signed during the three-day annual conference and exhibition the Russian state nuclear corporation is hosting in Moscow this week.

China and Sudan have signed a framework agreement for the construction of the east African country's first nuclear power plant.

An agreement to cooperate in using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes has been signed between the national nuclear research institutes of Thailand and Vietnam.

China General Nuclear announced it has signed an agreement with Canadian uranium mining company Cameco to further expand and deepen their cooperation in the joint development of uranium resources.

The world will be "a safer place" now that the amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials has entered into force, according to International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano.

Australia is to become the 14th member of the Generation IV International Forum. In addition to accepting Australia's entry, last week the forum's policy group also elected a new chairman.

French utility EDF has signed an agreement to extend its cooperation with Rosenergoatom, the operator of Russia's civil nuclear power plants. The companies will cooperate in reactor operations, decommissioning and waste management.