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Nuclear power has an essential role to play in achieving a 'carbon free' future, Rosatom deputy director-general Kirill Komarov said yesterday during the Expo-2017 conference in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The UK needs to build 14.5 GWe of new nuclear capacity by 2035 or it will fail to meet the Two Degrees scenario, National Grid says in the annual update of its Future Energy Scenarios it published yesterday. The report also suggests that national electricity demand could peak at 85 GWe by 2050, compared with around 60 GWe today. National Grid is the private company which runs Britain's high-voltage electricity network.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has decided to temporarily suspend construction of units 5 and 6 at the Shin Kori nuclear power plant in south-eastern Korea. The move comes two weeks after South Korean President Moon Jae-in issued an administrative order to halt construction of the reactors.

French utility EDF has said the EPR unit under construction at its Flamanville site in France will be connected to the grid in May 2019 and reach full power in November 2019. The dates are in line with the timetable for Flamanville 3 it gave in September 2015.

Global investment in energy dropped in 2016, according to an International Energy Agency report. Although renewables have become cheaper, clean energy rollout has nevertheless "stalled" on lower investments in hydro and nuclear, the report - World Energy Investment 2017 - says.

Bangladesh is making significant progress in building its first nuclear power plant, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano said following a visit to the site of the Rooppur plant on 3 July.

The UK's nuclear sector will require a workforce of over 100,000 in 2021 - up from 87,560 in 2017 - according to the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group's 2017 Nuclear Workforce Assessment which has been launched today.

Unit 4 at the Chashma nuclear power plant in Pakistan was connected to the grid on 29 June. The Chinese-supplied pressurised water reactor - the country's fifth power reactor - is expected to enter commercial operation by the end of August.

EDF estimates the cost of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project in the UK to now total £19.6 billion ($25.4 billion), up from its earlier estimate of £18.1 billion. The target date for first operation of unit 1 remains by the end of 2025.

The first pouring of structural concrete for two Russian-built VVER reactors at Kudankulam units 3 and 4 was marked yesterday at the site in Tamil Nadu, India. The milestone followed approval last week by India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The units represent the second phase of the Kudankulam project.

EDF has "taken note" of the French nuclear regulator's position indicating that the Flamanville 3 reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is fit for service, but aims to prove that regular maintenance would avoid the need to change the closure head of the RPV in 2024.

The French nuclear regulator has provisionally ruled that EDF's Flamanville 3 can start up safely, but that the head of its reactor pressure vessel will need to be replaced by the end of 2024. The Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire said yesterday the unit, which is under construction in northwest France, is fit for operation despite issues with its steel.