Germany's phase-out of nuclear energy will only lead to the country missing its 2030 carbon emissions target, 25 leading foreign and German environmentalists, journalists and academics have written in an open letter to the German public. They call on German politicians to be "brave enough" to change legislation to at least postpone the shutdown of the country's reactors.

The opening plenary session of Italy's National Seminar, which aims at deepening the analysis of the technical aspects related to the national repository for radioactive waste and technological park project with all interested parties, was held yesterday. The National Seminar, a series of consultative meetings, follows the publication in January of a list of 67 potential sites for a radioactive waste storage facility.

One-third of Italians are in favour of reconsidering the use of nuclear energy in the country, according to the results of a public opinion poll conducted on behalf of Comitato Nucleare e Ragione. More than half of respondents said they would not exclude the future use of new advanced nuclear technologies.

Life is a risky business. We are exposed to an unending cascade of risks, with some deemed “worse” than others, writes John Lindberg of World Nuclear Association. Since the 1970s, a considerable amount of psychological research dedicated to understanding why we often ignore some of the statistically biggest risks (e.g. driving, smoking), whilst fearing some of the smallest (e.g. nuclear power), has concluded that factors such as emotions, mental imagery, and trust, are central to the way we assess risks. Few risks elicit as strong a response as radiation, especially when in connection with nuclear power, largely thanks to its invisibility, links with cancer, and media portrayals.

The final report of an independent inquiry into the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's award of the Magnox decommissioning contract, related litigation and its subsequent termination has been published. Led by Steve Holliday, a former CEO of National Grid, the process to hold the Magnox Inquiry began in March 2017. Holliday was asked to conduct an inquiry by Greg Clark, then secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A list of 67 potential sites for a radioactive waste storage facility has been published by Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA, the Italian state-owned company responsible for dismantling the country's nuclear power plants. The publication of the list on 5 January, announced in five national newspapers, started a period of public consultation.

US President Joe Biden yesterday signed executive orders to follow through on his promise to take aggressive action to tackle climate change and build on the executive actions that he took on his first day in office, including re-joining the Paris Agreement and the immediate review of "harmful rollbacks" of environmental standards under his predecessor Donald Trump. Meanwhile, a UN survey has found that almost two-thirds of people around the world now view climate change as a global emergency.

Polish climate and environmental activists are asking Germany to reconsider its 2011 decision to phase out nuclear power. On 18 December, activists from the FOTA4Climate initiative submitted to the German embassy in Warsaw an open letter signed by Polish scientists, intellectuals, activists and citizens.

Japan's Nuclear Waste Management Organisation has begun the initial stage of assessing two municipalities in Hokkaido Prefecture for their suitability to host a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. This marks the first time such preliminary surveys have ever been conducted in the country.

Tohoku Electric Power Company today received approval from Murai Yoshihiro, the governor of Miyagi Prefecture, to restart unit 2 of its Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture. The utility aims to restart the 796 MWe boiling water reactor in fiscal 2022 at the earliest.

In what Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB describes as a "historic decision", the municipal council of Östhammar yesterday voted in favour of its planned repository for used nuclear fuel at Forsmark. The final decision to authorise the project will now be made by the Swedish government.

Nuclear power programmes can benefit society through the creation of high-quality employment opportunities while providing secure, reliable energy supplies, but the industry must make sure it engages in open and transparent communications with stakeholders, as well as being cost-competitive with all other forms of generation, if those benefits are to be realised. These were the feelings from an international high-level panel of nuclear industry and academic experts at World Nuclear Association's Strategic eForum 2020.