After years spent being the sole global authority, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), has evolved into deciding “what’s good and what’s bad” in a crowded field.

The challenges of decommissioning nuclear power plants and rehabilitating  contaminated sites has come under the spotlight at a UN meeting in Madrid, Spain this week.

Some 600 nuclear plants have been built around the world during the last 60 years.

Medical professionals from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa have been trained in a nuclear-derived technique that can quickly detect the Zika virus.

Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) can detect the virus within three hours.

Fallout from nuclear testing in the mid-20th Century is playing a vital role in helping to protect the world’s soils.