The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority has granted an operating licence for unit 3 of the Karachi nuclear power plant, the second of two Chinese-supplied Hualong One reactors at the site.

The Czech Republic is committed to maintaining and strengthening its robust regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission team identified areas for possible improvements.

Members of the International Nuclear Regulators' Association have released a joint statement affirming their commitment to work together on generic design assessment and licensing of small modular reactor technologies.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 small modular reactor technology is compliant with Polish nuclear safety and radiological protection standards, the president of the National Atomic Energy Agency said in a general opinion.

France's nuclear safety regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, has approved EDF's revised programme to rectify stress corrosion issues at its French nuclear power plants. Under EDF's schedule, all welds identified as a priority will be checked within the next year.

Kansai Electric Power has asked Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority for permission to extend the lifespan of units 3 and 4 at its Takahama nuclear power plant by 20 years.

Framatome received approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to apply the company's suite of Advanced Codes and Methods to operating conditions with uranium-235 enrichments above the industry standard of 5%.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has completed Phase 2 of the vendor design review of Terrestrial Energy's Integral Molten Salt Reactor. The regulator said that no fundamental barriers to licensing the small modular reactor design were identified during the review.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will base its regulatory framework for fusion energy systems on its existing process for licensing the use of byproduct materials.

The Western European Nuclear Regulators Association has set out the steps that industry must take to ensure the timely, harmonised licensing of small modular reactor and advanced modular reactor designs in Europe.

French radioactive waste management agency Andra has applied to the department of Aube in north-eastern France for environmental permission to increase the current authorised storage capacity of Cires, the country's dedicated disposal facility for very-low-level radioactive waste.

The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment has granted utility EnBW approval to decommission and dismantle unit 2 of its Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, which is due to shut down later this month. Meanwhile, the removal of fuel from unit 2 of EnBW's Philippsburg plant has now been completed.