The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers announced yesterday they had signed an agreement establishing practical arrangements to cooperate in sharing of best practices and documents and standards development in the area of nuclear safety and energy.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun an eight-day mission to Kazakhstan to assess the status of infrastructure required for the country to launch a nuclear power program. The mission is at the request of the Kazakh government.

A new online Nuclear Contracting Toolkit has been launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help member states plan and implement procurement and contracting processes for their nuclear power projects.

EDF's Golfech nuclear power plant in France has demonstrated a strong commitment to safety, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded. However, the mission made recommendations to reinforce some safety measures.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded that the Paks nuclear power plant has improved operational safety by following recommendations and suggestions made in a 2014 IAEA review, but noted that further work is needed. The Operational Safety Review Team completed a five-day follow-up mission to the four-unit plant in central Hungary today.

Continued government backing and resources are needed to further build the Belarusian nuclear safety regulator's technical capabilities ahead of the start up of the country's first nuclear power reactor, an International Atomic Energy Agency team has concluded.

Sweden has made good progress over the past five years in its legislative and regulatory framework for physical protection and computer security at nuclear power facilities and in the transport of nuclear materials, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Integrated Nuclear Safety Assessment of Research Reactors (INSARR) mission has concluded that NRG of the Netherlands has promoted and further developed a strong safety culture based on a mature management system at its Petten research reactor.

Japan has established a new organisation tasked with managing its reprocessing of used fuel, METI announced on 3 October. The Nuclear Reprocessing Organisation of Japan will be funded by the country's power utilities to cover the cost of the reprocessing work.

A global pioneer in all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, the UK wants its collaboration with international partners to continue apace. This was the message of the country's delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference held last week in Vienna. The delegation included specialists in nuclear education, research, design, fuel, policy, law and finance.

Nuclear energy is relevant to "almost all" of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted last year by the United Nations General Assembly, World Nuclear Association Director General Agneta Rising said today. Rising spoke during the Scientific Forum of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference being held this week in Vienna.