South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma has defended his lobby for a proposed R1tn nuclear energy deal with Russia, saying it would have solved the country’s electricity crisis.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has finalised further federal loan guarantees of USD3.7 billion for the continued construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced today during a visit to the construction site near Waynesboro, Georgia.

Electricity generation from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 807.1 million megawatthours (MWh) in 2018, slightly more than the previous peak of 807.0 million MWh in 2010, based on preliminary annual data. Although several nuclear power plants have closed since 2010, a combination of added capacity through uprates and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles allowed the remaining nuclear power plants to produce more electricity. In the near future, however, EIA expects that U.S. nuclear power output will decline.

Since then, U.S. continued federal efforts to curb retirements of coal and nuclear units for resilience and national security have met with much resistance and found little success.

South Africa must consider nuclear as a clean energy source that can be part of its electricity generation mix, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe said yesterday in his keynote speech at a business awards ceremony.

The U.S. has agreed to build six nuclear power plants in India, according to a joint statement from the two countries issued March 13 in Washington, D.C.

The general contract has been signed for the construction of two further Russian-supplied reactors at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province. In addition, a technical design contract was signed for a second pair of reactors at the Xudabao site in Liaoning province.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Enusa Industrias Avanzadas, defining a framework for collaboration and the exchange of information and expertise in the field of nuclear fuel services.

The USA risks losing a substantial portion of its nuclear power capacity unless it takes policy action, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol told the US Senate

The leaders of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have said the two countries will seek opportunities to cooperate in the field of nuclear energy beyond their current collaboration on the Barakah nuclear power plant project. This will include opportunities in third countries.