Kazakhstan's Institute of Nuclear Physics has implemented "significant" modifications and upgrades to improve the safety of its research reactor, an IAEA Integrated Nuclear Safety Assessment of Research Reactors mission has concluded. The IAEA team reviewed the comprehensive safety programs at the light water reactor called WWR-K, including improvements to reactor safety systems and to the training and qualification program for staff.

The International Atomic Energy Agency will look to strengthen its activities to bolster nuclear safety around the world, the agency's director-general Yukiya Amano told its board of governors yesterday. He also informed the board of progress in the IAEA's other work.

The UK's nuclear industry will need more than two years of Brexit negotiations to prepare for a departure from the European Atomic Energy Community, experts told members of parliament last week. The country's numerous arrangements with European Union member states would each need to be replicated and this could take a decade, they said.

A nuclear safety cooperation project between Norway and Romania has been completed. The aim of the three-year collaboration was to enhance the capabilities of Romania's nuclear regulator.

The European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency agreed to strengthen their cooperation in a range of nuclear activities, including nuclear science applications, during a meeting in Brussels this week.

Nuclear power will play an important role in meeting the world's future energy needs, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano told the World Government Summit in Dubai yesterday.

The 2008 EU Amendment Act is not a justifiable legal basis for the UK government's belief that Brexit must also mean an exit from Euratom, write Jonathan Leech and Rupert Cowen.

Forward-planning is essential for countries wishing to introduce or expand nuclear power programs, participants at an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting heard last week. Ensuring effective coordination among all organisations involved is important, they agreed.

Rosatom is to receive state funding of $1.78 million for its voluntary contribution to the International Atomic Energy Agency and RUB109.5 million ($1.85 million) for nuclear industry infrastructure development in third countries. The government published the funding plan, part of the 2017-2019 Development of the Nuclear Power Industry state program, on 3 February.

The UK will seek an alternative agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency if it fails to negotiate "some sort of relationship" with the European Atomic Energy Community during Brexit negotiations, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis told the House of Commons today. The government is from today holding a debate in the lower house of the British parliament on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) bill that it unveiled last week.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded a five-day Site and External Events Design mission to Belarus, which is building its first nuclear power reactors. The two Russian-designed 1170 MWe VVER units are scheduled to begin operations by 2020.

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.