The UK nuclear industry has published a Concordat on Public Engagement. Andrew Sherry, who has led the work as part of the Nuclear Industry Council, explains why.

Rolls-Royce plans to help Rosatom avoid falling foul of regulators by sharing the lessons it has learned from producing instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for the nuclear power industry. Stéphane Lessi, the British engineering group's I&C customer business director, said yesterday that this advice will assist the Russian nuclear corporation in its Hanhikivi 1 and Paks II projects in Finland and Hungary, but will also apply to VVER modernization and construction projects in other Wenra markets.

(Updated with comment from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) The UK will invest at least £250 million ($377 million) over the next five years in an "ambitious" nuclear research and development program, according to the Conservative Party-led government's Spending Review and Autumn Statement published yesterday. British Chancellor George Osborne's 'Comprehensive Spending Review' says this program will "revive the UK's nuclear expertise" and position the country as "a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies".

The planned construction of a new high-level waste storage facility at the UK's Dounreay site is progressing with the award of three contracts. The £22 million ($33 million) facility will be an extension to the existing Dounreay Cementation Plant.

A demonstration plant to vitrify radioactive waste has completed initial commissioning prior to its deployment at the UK's Sellafield site. The full-scale GeoMelt In-Container Vitrification (ICV) plant is a collaboration between the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and US radioactive waste management specialist Kurion.

Energy Solutions EU (ES EU) and the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) met in court this week over the company's claim the government agency violated its own rules last year when it awarded a contract to manage the Magnox Ltd and Research Site Restoration Ltd nuclear sites.

EDF Energy has found cracks in three of the graphite bricks in unit 3 of its Hunterston B nuclear power plant in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Similar cracks were found in October last year in two of the graphite bricks of unit 4. In both cases, the company said the cracks have no safety implications.

India and Britain yesterday signed a civil nuclear agreement, reaffirming the importance of addressing climate change and promoting "secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy". The agreement was signed on the first day of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day official visit to Britain.

A planning application has been submitted by LLW Repository Limited for the phased construction of three new vaults for the disposal of low-level radioactive wastes at the UK's national repository for such wastes at Drigg in Cumbria.

A revised environmental permit has been issued to LLW Repository Limited allowing the continued disposal of low-level radioactive wastes at the UK's national repository for such wastes at Drigg in Cumbria.

Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy has reached a regulatory milestone in its progress towards deployment of the UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, following confirmation that British regulators will move to the final step of the Generic Design Assessment. The GDA process for the UK ABWR is on schedule for completion by the end of 2017.

The nuclear renaissance is on our doorstep and we have a one-off chance to maximise the opportunity, writes Jean Llewellyn.