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The planned Belgian state guarantee for nuclear operators that do not find sufficient civil liability coverage on private insurance markets does not involve state aid, the European Commission has concluded. The commission said the guarantee would improve compensation for potential victims without granting any advantage to operators.

The UK government's Department for Exiting the European Union has today published a position paper on nuclear materials and safeguards issues, which the head of the country's Nuclear Industry Association says "demonstrates the complexity" of replicating arrangements with the European Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Community.

The British government and media are discussing with renewed concern the prospect of the UK's departure from the European Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Community (Euratom). Current plans would see the UK leave both the European Union and Euratom by April 2019.

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation has presented four key targets in its corporate plan for 2017/2018 published yesterday. It has also published its annual report and accounts for 2016/2017, in which its chairman describes the "significant change" the organisation has been through, both at board and management level, "to ensure we remain fit for the future".

Bulgaria's nuclear regulatory agency plans to use €3 million ($3.42 million) in funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for its role in the decommissioning of units 1-4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The money will come from the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund that is administered by the London-based bank.

Nuclear firmly remains an important part of the UK's energy mix and the government will ensure Britain's exit from the European Union will not have a negative impact on the country's nuclear industry,Ìý¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Minister Richard Harrington has confirmed.ÌýHarrington has been undersecretary of state at the Department for Business, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) forÌýless than two weeks following a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Theresa May.

The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania has taken anotherÌýstep forward in the decommissioning process with the start today of hot trials, using radioactive materials, of the new Solid Radioactive Waste Management and Storage Facility. The milestone was announced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The OECD-Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency - together with the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency - plans to publish new guidance on improving cost estimates of nuclear decommissioning projects. Simon Carroll, a senior analyst with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, told delegates at the Nuclear Decommissioning & Waste Management Conference Europe that the guidance addresses project risk and uncertainty in cost estimates "in a more comprehensive fashion" than existing practice.

The European Commission yesterday approved EDF'sÌýtakeover of Areva's nuclear reactor businessÌýunder EU merger regulations. The transaction, expected to be completed by the end of this year, is "unlikely to raise competition concerns", it said.

The manifestos of the three leading political parties in the UK contain few direct references to nuclear power. The documents were published this week as part of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat campaigning ahead of the general election on 8 June. Their campaigns have been dominated by the prospect of two years of Brexit talks with the European Union.

The UK should focus on developing small modular reactors (SMRs) to secure its nuclear industry after the country's exit from the European Union, according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In its report Leaving the EU, the Euratom Treaty Part 2: A Framework for the Future, issued on 5 May, IMechE says SMRs could "present the UK with key export opportunities and return the country to the international nuclear reactor supply arena".

The UK government needs to work closely with industry to bring about replacement arrangements for theÌýEuropean Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Community in a timely manner for the country's nuclear industry, the Nuclear Industry Association says in a position paper published today. The NIA represents more than 260 companies including nuclear power station operators, new build developers and vendors, those engaged in decommissioning, waste management, all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, supply chain and consultancy companies.