An initiative to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics like COVID-19 has been launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The project, called ZODIAC, builds on the IAEA's experience in assisting countries in the use of nuclear and nuclear-derived techniques for the rapid detection of pathogens that cause transboundary animal diseases, including ones that spread to humans.

A recent International Atomic Energy Agency survey of regulatory bodies in over 90 countries found that national regulators are using innovative methods to ensure the safety of radiation sources is not compromised during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such sources are used mainly in medicine, industry and research.

There has been no enforced shutdown of a nuclear power reactor due to the effects of COVID-19 on the workforce or supply chains, according to reports from operators and regulators received through the International Atomic Energy Agency's COVID-19 Operational Experience Network and International Reporting System for Operating Experience.

The world is not on track to meet the energy-related components of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario outlines a major transformation of the global energy system, showing how the world can change course to deliver on the three main energy-related SDGs simultaneously.

The UK's nuclear industry has demonstrated its flexibility and inherent safety culture during the COVID-19 crisis, and ought to be given a key role in the country's low-carbon economic recovery, World Nuclear Association said in interviews with the BBC this week.

A ceremony was held today to mark the official opening of a state-of-the-art laboratory building, named after former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano, at the agency's Seibersdorf site outside Vienna, Austria. The new facility will increase the IAEA's capacity to assist countries in fighting and preventing transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, and to tackle challenges related to climate change and food safety.

The world's response to COVID-19 is also an opportunity to meet strategic goals that include reducing carbon emissions and attaining a healthier, more sustainable environment, while ensuring economic recovery, the leaders of the Canadian Nuclear Association and World Nuclear Association said yesterday.

The European nuclear industry has written an open letter to the European Commission, saying it is ready to play an important part in supporting a low-carbon economic revival. The letter, addressed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli and European Council President Charles Michel, was signed by 25 companies and 14 associations, including European nuclear trade body Foratom.

A sustainable energy supply is crucial for ensuring stable economic growth and improving social welfare while at the same time preserving the ecosystems we live in, writes Evgeny Pakermanov, president of Rusatom Overseas, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

In 2020, the world has encountered a new global challenge that has affected a record number of people - the coronavirus pandemic. In a matter of weeks, it caused the biggest social and economic upheaval in decades. From the very start, a joint effort was required to combat both this life-changing infection and its consequences.

Investing in nuclear power as part of the post-virus recovery would help stimulate the economy and ease the path towards carbon neutrality, World Nuclear Association said on 29 May, following the ministerial roundtable on Mobilising Investments for Secure and Sustainable Power Systems that was co-hosted earlier that day by the International Energy Agency and the UK government.

Foratom said today it "regrets" that the European Commission has ignored the need for nuclear power as a clean, dispatchable and European source of energy in its green recovery plan published today. These three elements are essential, it says, if the EU really wants to decarbonise its economy, create jobs and ensure that citizens, hospitals and businesses have access to the energy they need when they need it.

Bruce Power will be carrying out a second harvest of cobalt-60, which is used to sterilise medical equipment, as part of the company's COVID-19 response, CEO Mike Rencheck said yesterday. An initiative launched three weeks ago to leverage Ontario's nuclear supply chain in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is already delivering results, he said.