The UK's decision to leave the European Union has not changed the government's commitment to new nuclear power, or to its climate change goals, says Amber Rudd.

One of the nuclear industry's most experienced executives has postponed retirement from a 45-year-long career for a rare challenge - to deliver a privately backed new build project. As CEO of Horizon Nuclear Power - the UK subsidiary of Japan's Hitachi - Duncan Hawthorne aims to demonstrate that such a project is able not only to attract investors, but that it will be delivered on time and to budget.

EDF Energy, NuGeneration and Horizon Nuclear Power have all stressed their commitment to the UK's nuclear new build program, despite the country's decision to leave the European Union. Nevertheless, the majority vote in favour of 'Brexit' - decided in a national referendum held yesterday - may have implications for investment in new reactors and nuclear research, as well as for the UK's future role in meeting climate change targets, industry participants said.

The retrieval of mixed waste from the underground chambers at the decommissioned Berkeley nuclear power plant in the UK is progressing. Clearance of these vaults will enable the two Magnox units to enter a period of long-term passive storage.

Fusion reactor development could proceed much more rapidly by scaling down the size of reactors being developed, potentially helping the first compact fusion pilot plants to be ready to produce electricity for the first time within the next decade, writes David Kingham.

The UK government has not given EDF a deadline for its final investment decision on Hinkley Point C, but the contract for difference (CfD) element of their contract would be cancelled if the project is delivered eight years later than planned, in 2033. This was the conclusion of British lawmakers who yesterday grilled the UK Minister of State for Energy and the lead negotiator in talks between the government and the French-owned utility.

Vincent de Rivaz, the CEO of EDF Energy, said today he does not want to "prejudge" the outcome of the French-owned company's consultation with the Central Works Council, which needs to be completed before a final investment decision on Hinkley Point C can be made. Giving evidence to the UK parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee, de Rivaz said the consultation, which began on 2 May, would take at least 60 days.

The UK's Horizon Nuclear Power has today appointed a joint venture responsible for construction of its Wylfa Newydd plant. The newly created company, Menter Newydd, is a joint venture of Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Bechtel Management Company and JGC Corporation (UK).

The UK government is confident "there is a deal to be done" with EDF Energy on Hinkley Point C, but notes that it would not and could not influence the speed at which the utility makes a final investment decision on the project. "We recognise that the matter now rests with the equity. That's a commercial matter and we have to allow that to play out," said Jeremy Allen, head of procurement and investor relations at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

NuGeneration's project to build a nuclear power plant of up to 3.8 GWe gross capacity at Moorside in West Cumbria will be the first opportunity for lenders to enter the UK's nuclear power program, CEO Tom Samson told World Nuclear News in an interview.

Paperwork related to the manufacture of components for use in UK nuclear power plants by Areva's Le Creusot forge may contain "inconsistencies, modifications or omissions", the French nuclear regulator has advised its British counterpart. The Sizewell B reactor is the only UK reactor to feature such parts.