Some of the newest machines come with blades as long as a football field that can generate 50 times more electricity than wind power turbines built decades ago. Designers are also developing ones that float, fly, or sit in the ocean or on rooftops.

Wind turbines are getting really big — some with blades as long as a football field — and more powerful, often generating 50 times more electricity than the first generation of wind power machines built in the 1980s.

China says it has made a breakthrough in its nuclear technology, testing for the first time an experimental fast neutron reactor.

The China Institute of Atomic Energy says it tested the small reactor outside Beijing Thursday, connecting it to the power grid to produce electricity.

(Reuters) - Radioactive waste from Europe's 143 nuclear reactors must in future be buried in secure bunkers, ministers from EU member states agreed on Tuesday.

The new rules force national nuclear authorities to draw up disposal plans by 2015, which will be vetted by Europe's energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh may have one of the largest reserves of uranium in the world, the country's chief nuclear officer says.

Studies show Tummalapalle in Kadapa district could have reserves of 150,000 tonnes of the mineral, Atomic Energy Commission chief S Banerjee said.

India has estimated reserves of about 175,000 tonnes of uranium.

The German government wants to encourage the construction of new coal and gas power plants with millions of euros from a fund for promoting clean energy and combating climate change.

The plan has come under stiff criticism, but the Ministry of Economics and Technology defended the idea. A spokeswoman said it was necessary as the government switches from nuclear to other renewable energy sources and added that the money would promote the most efficient plants possible.

A major post-Fukushima review of US nuclear power facilities is calling for sweeping changes to shore up safety, including ensuring that nuclear operators can handle multiple reactor emergencies at a single site.

But a Fukushima-type accident "is unlikely to occur in the United States," and continued nuclear plant activities "do not pose an imminent risk" to public safety, concluded the 90-day task force convened by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The task force released its report Wednesday.

TOKYO — Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Wednesday that Japan should reduce and eventually eliminate its dependence on nuclear energy in what would be a radical shift in the country’s energy policy, saying that the Fukushima accident had demonstrated the dangers of the technology.

The REN21 Renewables 2011 Global Status Report released today shows that the renewable energy sector continues to perform well despite continuing economic recession, incentive cuts, and low natural-gas prices.

The French government has launched the first phase of a long-awaited €10m (£8.8m) offshore wind energy tender seeking developers to build projects off the country's coastlines.

The government launched an initial tender yesterday inviting bids to build 3GW of wind farms in five zones, to help meet its commitment to supply 23 per cent of the nation's energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The government will lay out plans on Tuesday to create a huge offshore wind industry in the UK, with new targets going far further than even its own advisers have recommended.