Brent rose 44 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.73 per barrel, WTI were up 62 cents, or 0.8%, to $79.3 a barrel.

“The Department of State’s designations aim to reduce Russia’s oil and natural gas revenue through sanctions on operators of significant Russian crude oil production and liquified natural gas projects. We are designating the chief executive officer and members of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom’s (Rosatom),” according to a State Department Fact Sheet.

Vietnam and Russia are already cooperating in the nuclear sector on the construction of a Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology in Vietnam

China's total fleet of 58 operable reactors supply about 5% of the country's electricity.

India and the USA signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement (also known as a 123 Agreement) in 2008,

The United States and Republic of Korea have worked together on civil nuclear power for more than 70 years.

While Europe has managed to diversify its energy supplies since the 2022 crisis — making a phaseout of Russia’s fuel potentially less challenging — this winter has served as a reminder that the region remains vulnerable.

The Worldwide Rig Count for December was 1,660, down 49 from the 1,708 counted in November 2024, and down 79, from the 1,739 counted in December 2023.

Brent fell 6 cents to $73.85 a barrel, WTI was down 11 cents at $70.60 a barrel.

Consequently, Russia will increasingly rely on China and boost energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas, in 2025,

Rosatom describes the TRT as “a tokamak with a long discharge pulse, a strong magnetic field and an electromagnetic system made of a high-temperature superconductor … the construction of the TRT is an important stage in the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion and the creation of a nuclear power reactor in Russia – an environmentally friendly source of energy with virtually inexhaustible fuel resources”.

ITER has paid tribute to Evgeny Velikhov (1935-2024), who died on 5th December aged 89, with the following “In Memoriam”:

The cost of constructing and operating a new nuclear power plant for 2040 is estimated at 12.5 yen ($0.08) per kilowatt-hour, according to documents released from a trade ministry panel meeting on Monday.

Following five years of stagnation, Germany’s economy is now 5% smaller than it would have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had been maintained.

The report is the second part of a series from independent economic consultants Frontier Energy on modelling the economics of including nuclear in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM): the first part, released in November, established the base case against which to compare cost impacts based on the AEMO Integrated Systems Plan.