Driving investment towards nuclear energy projects depends strongly on the perception and evaluation of the costs associated with them, Leonam dos Santos Guimarães, CEO of Eletronuclear, told participants in World Nuclear Association's Strategic eForum last week. Brazil has two nuclear reactors generating about 3% of its electricity, but construction of a third is currently stalled.

The first UK-wide citizens' assembly on climate change said today it has set out “a clear, internally consistent and timely path” for how the UK can reach its legally binding target of net-zero emissions by 2050 in its final report published today. In response, the UK Nuclear Industry Association said that the target of "four times as much clean power as now" will need nuclear power as part of the energy mix if this is to be achieved.

One in three Canadians sees climate change or global warming as the number one "extremely serious" issue currently faced by the country, according to a newly released Canadian Nuclear Association study. Some 78% of those surveyed said they are very concerned about the negative impact of climate change on future generations.

Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organisation is seeking input from the public to help guide and shape its plans for the transportation of used nuclear fuel from reactor sites to a deep geological repository in the 2040s.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has today submitted an environmental impact assessment programme to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on very low-level radioactive waste disposal at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The alternatives are constructing a new near-surface disposal facility or expanding the deep geological repository currently in use.

There is a low level of awareness among young people in the UK that nuclear power is a low-carbon source of energy, according to research commissioned by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. This shows that the government needs to ensure that nuclear is included in all its communications about low-carbon power and energy sources, IMechE said.

Radioactive Waste Management Limited, the company tasked with developing a Geological Disposal Facility in the UK, has set out its approach to GDF site evaluation in England and Wales, following a consultation process. It says that safety, opportunities for communities, and protection of the environment are key considerations as part of its evaluation.

The Hiroshima High Court today imposed a temporary injunction on the operation of unit 3 of the Ikata nuclear power plant in Japan's Ehime Prefecture, currently in a maintenance outage. Operator Shikoku Electric Power Company said it will appeal the decision, the second injunction to be imposed on the unit since it was restarted in 2016.

More Australians support lifting the country's ban on the use of nuclear energy than oppose it, a new poll conducted for the Minerals Council of Australia has found. The survey also found that over half those polled were not aware that nuclear energy is banned in Australia.

As many as 78% of people surveyed in Sweden - up from 71% in 2017 - strongly support nuclear energy, 43% are open to the construction of new nuclear power plants, and 35% would like to continue using the country's reactors for their full operating lives, a survey by Novus and published by Analysgruppen shows. In contrast, only 11% of those polled are opposed to nuclear power.

Support by the Belgian public for keeping the country's nuclear power plants in operation beyond 2025 has risen to 46% of those surveyed, up from 30% recorded in a 2017 poll. The percentage of respondents who believe the share of nuclear power in Belgium's electricity mix should be reduced has fallen to 59% from 75% in 2017. Trade body Forum Nucléaire says the increase in support shown by the 18-month barometer survey is "remarkable".

Public perception of nuclear power in mitigating climate change does not depend exclusively on education, but is also determined to a large extent by each individual's world view, Jessica Lovering of the Breakthrough Institute said last week at the International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power, held by the International Atomic Energy Agency at its headquarters in Vienna.