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An extensive EU-funded research project has been launched to investigate the effects of chronic exposure to low doses of radon and other naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) on humans and the environment. The EUR22 million (USD26 million), five-year RadoNorm project involves 56 partners from 22 European countries.

The European Court of Justice has rejected Austria's appeal against the European Commission's 2014 decision to approve the UK's support for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, which is under construction in Somerset, England. The Court of Justice, the supreme court of the European Union in matters of EU law, agreed with the Commission that the project is in line with EU state aid rules.

The European Commission has presented a plan to reduce European Union greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, said EU policy must recognise nuclear's potential role in meeting that target.

Prejudice towards nuclear power among some policymakers is preventing a fact-based assessment of its benefits, including the ability to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, Bohdan Zronek, chief nuclear officer at Czech utility ÄŒEZ, told participants in ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ's Strategic eForum last week. ÄŒEZ was one of seven utilities that wrote to the European Commission in March, arguing that the nuclear industry ought to benefit from future sustainable financing.

A new research project supported by the European Union aims to clarify, enhance and unify methods of structural integrity assessment of safety-critical concrete infrastructure in support of long-term operation of nuclear power plants. Coordinated by Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre, the collaborative project seeks to improve the understanding of ageing and deterioration of such concrete.

The foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany - the E3 - have issued a statement in response to the US administration's letter to the UN Security Council yesterday, requesting to initiate the 'snapback' mechanism of the Iran nuclear deal signed five years ago. This mechanism allows a party to the agreement - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - to seek the re-imposition against Iran of the multilateral sanctions lifted in 2015 in accordance with resolution 2231, adopted by the UN Security Council.

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.

New irradiation experiments on the behaviour of nuclear fuel have recently started in the High Flux Reactor at Petten, in the Netherlands. The Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group says that, by using a new measurement technique, data collected during the experiments could be used to develop new fuels and to optimise the efficiency of existing ones.

At the end of a five-day special meeting of the European Council, EU leaders reached agreement today to jointly borrow EUR750 billion (USD862 billion) to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The EU's recovery fund, to be composed of EUR390 billion in grants and EUR360 billion in loans, will be attached to a new EUR1.074 trillion seven-year budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This brings the total financial package to EUR1.82 trillion.

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.

Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, has welcomed the European Commission's decision to appoint its Joint Research Centre as the group of experts that will assess nuclear under the sustainable finance taxonomy. However, the JRC will not submit its findings until next year, after the relevant acts have already been finalised.

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.