The UK's Nuclear Industry Association has welcomed new official data from the Office for National Statistics which it said shows the "vital contribution nuclear power generation makes to the economy". The statistics, released for the first time and part of the low-carbon and renewable energy data series, show nuclear generation and new build activities contributed £3.5 billion to the economy in 2014, with 15,500 people employed full time.

Figures released today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that electricity generation in the UK fell by half a percent last year to 337.7 TWh, from 338.9 TWh a year earlier. The change reflected a large fall in generation from coal that was offset by increases from renewables and nuclear, according to DECC's Energy Trends report for March 2016.

Vincent de Rivaz, the CEO of EDF Energy, said today that the Hinkley Point C (HPC) project will "clearly and categorically" go ahead. Giving evidence to the UK parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee, de Rivaz confirmed that, according to the French economy minister, the repeatedly postponed final investment decision on the project to build two EPR units at the site in Somerset, England would finally be made "by early May". He would not himself give a specific date and said the decision would be made "very soon".

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions - the largest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions - stayed flat for a second year in a row, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced today following an analysis of preliminary date for 2015.

While global energy demand is expected to grow by 34% between 2014 and 2035, nuclear power generation will grow 50% in total over the same period, according to the latest Energy Outlook from oil and gas giant BP.

The nuclear industry today stands at a critical juncture and it is time to reassess our approach to each other and the wider world if we are to make the most of our opportunities, writes Preston Swafford.

French utility EDF is calling for "rapid and radical reform" of Europe's electricity market structure to allow for future investments in new generating capacity. This is needed, it says, to "face up to current challenges of the energy transition and to consumers' expectations".

The State of New York Public Service Commission yesterday ruled that non-carbon-emitting generation resources including nuclear power plants must be included in the state's Clean Energy Standard portfolio. The CES is to include a support mechanism for upstate nuclear power plants at risk of closure for economic reasons.

A US House of Representatives committee has approved a bipartisan bill to support federal research and development (R&D) and stimulate private investment in advanced nuclear reactor technologies. The approval came as President Barack Obama said the country must move away from "dirty energy".

UPDATED Nations meeting at the United Nations COP21 climate change conference in Paris yesterday adopted a universal agreement on actions to combat climate change to keep the increase in global temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said today that governments serious about nuclear power should find the right frameworks to attract investors in order to overcome the challenges of large investments in liberalised markets.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy director general Mikhail Chudakov has called on world leaders to consider nuclear power as an important contributor to a sustainable energy future at the COP21 climate conference in Paris.