Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, yesterday published the priorities for Brexit negotiations in relation to the nuclear industry. The organisation said the European Union and UK should immediately start negotiating their post-Brexit relationship and, if necessary, transitional arrangements in order to avoid any disruption to the nuclear fuel cycle.

Nuclear power plays a key role in the UK government's Clean Growth Strategy, published today, which defines how it aims to reduce carbon emissions across the whole economy. As part of the Climate Change Act, the government needs to cut CO2 emissions by 57% from 1990 levels by 2050.

The UK government has published in parliament its Nuclear Safeguards Bill to establish a domestic nuclear safeguards regime in preparation for the country's departure from the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The bill was introduced to the House of Commons and given its first reading yesterday. This stage is formal and takes place without any debate. MPs will next consider the bill at second reading on 16 October.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's ability to manage large procurements has been called into question by the National Audit Office. In its report on the 'Magnox contract', issued today, the NAO assesses the competitive procurement exercise for services to decommission two nuclear research sites and 10 Magnox sites that the NDA ran between 2012 and 2014.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday issued a notice of a proposed rule that would repeal the 2015 Clean Power Plan. The EPA asserts that the regulation, which would set emissions standards for US power plants, exceeds the agency's statutory authority.

Rosatom and the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy signed a 'program of cooperation' in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Moscow yesterday as part of Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's state visit to Russia. The program aims to develop the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy the two countries signed in June 2015.

Nuclear Energy Institute CEO Maria Korsnick has urged the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to move quickly to implement a proposed rulemaking on electricity market reforms. Korsnick made her comments to a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel hearing on defining reliability in a transforming electricity industry.

US energy secretary Rick Perry has called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act swiftly to address threats to grid resiliency through market reforms to recognise the attributes of baseload generation sources including nuclear. Perry also announced further support of up to $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to the owners of the Vogtle nuclear construction project in Georgia.

Entergy Corporation has reversed its December 2016 decision to close the Palisades nuclear power plant in 2018, the company announced yesterday. The Michigan plant will now operate under an existing power purchase agreement with Consumers Energy until the spring of 2022.

Westinghouse Electric Company has "re-affirmed its commitment" to delivering economic benefit to the UK through its small modular reactor shared design and development model. This will enable the UK to "move from buyer to global provider" of SMR technology, the company's Springfields, UK subsidiary said yesterday.

South Korea's economic growth has been owed in part to nuclear energy, and innovative use of radiation techniques will support sustainable development said the country's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Lee Jin-gyu. Yet the incoming government wants to focus only on reducing the chance of accident, he explained.