Integrated Resource Plans filed on 1 September by Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress demonstrate the valuable role nuclear and natural gas can play as part of a balanced portfolio, the two companies said. The plans outline a range of options to achieve varying levels of carbon reduction, including for the first time potential pathways to achieve an emissions reduction of up to 70%.

It is understandable that the nuclear power industry feels it has been left "in limbo" by the European Commission's taxonomy on sustainable finance, even though its low-carbon credentials are clear, an adviser to the Technical Expert Group that developed the guidance said last week. Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, participated in the 28 July webinar-based discussion of a newly published Policy Brief by the OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency, Unlocking financing for nuclear energy infrastructure in the COVID-19 economic recovery.

Successfully decarbonising the electricity sector requires suitable policies for the rapid deployment of all available low-carbon technologies, Jan Horst Keppler, senior economic advisor at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency said yesterday. Keppler spoke during a webinar held to discuss the Paris-based agency’s newly published Policy Brief, Nuclear power and the cost-effective decarbonisation of electricity systems.

Canada's Green Ribbon Panel has developed four principles it believes are necessary to change the conversation around climate, energy and the economy. The panel - formed in February by a collection of environmental and economic leaders - will focus on the role nuclear with other technologies that anchor Canada's energy sector can play in fighting climate change and growing the economy at home and abroad.

The US power sector made significant progress in the transition away from coal in 2019, driving substantial reductions in pollution from the power sector, according to a newly released benchmarking study of the country's 100 largest power producers. Nuclear made up 55% of the USA's zero-carbon resources.

US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette yesterday called for the world to take a dynamic, rather than static, approach to energy policy to facilitate the innovation necessary to secure a clean energy future. Speaking at the International Energy Agency's Clean Energy Transitions Summit 2020, he cautioned against "static" policies that could stifle innovation and limit fuel choices.

Foratom says it "remains concerned" that the European Commission is paying "insufficient attention" to low-carbon, non-fossil fuel sources of hydrogen, such as nuclear. The EU nuclear trade association was responding to two strategies the Commission released on 8 July for energy sector integration and hydrogen. Foratom said it welcomed the addition of a 'low-carbon hydrogen' category but said its usage should not be limited to the short and medium term.

High-level speakers from government, industry and international organisations at an International Energy Agency summit today underlined the need for nuclear energy to play a role in the post-COVID economic recovery at the same time as meeting the climate challenge.

The US House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis has released a report establishing a goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide in the USA by no later than 2050. The Climate Crisis Action Plan includes support to keep existing nuclear plants operating and calls for Congressional support for the development of advanced nuclear technologies.

More governments must introduce policies to support the long-term operation of nuclear power plants to maximise the environmental, employment and economic benefits they bring, the World Nuclear Association said yesterday on the publication of its new technical position paper The Enduring Value of Nuclear Energy Assets.

The European Union cannot afford to reduce its energy diversity and will need stronger policies than those currently in place to help it meet its 2030 targets for greenhouse gas emissions, renewables and energy efficiency as well as its long-term climate goals, according to a new review of EU energy policy from the International Energy Agency.

If the European Commission is serious about its efforts to support the post-virus economic recovery and to achieving a clean energy transition, then it will correct the omission of nuclear energy in its Green Deal package and in the EU Taxonomy, Czech and Polish ministers have written in letters to Frans Timmermans and Kadri Simons, respectively the first vice president of the European Commission and the European commissioner for energy.