Egypt's El Dabaa nuclear power project has moved forward with the application for construction licences for units 3 and 4. The application follows six months after the same step for units 1 and 2.

UPDATED - The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied Oklo Power's application to build and operate an Aurora compact fast reactor in Idaho, saying gaps in the information supplied by the company mean that the regulator's review of the combined licence application cannot move forward. Oklo can submit a "complete application" in the future and can request a hearing on the NRC decision.

An application to build the containment building of the first new unit at Hungary's Paks II nuclear power plant has been submitted. Project company Atomerőmű Zrt said it should be approved within 150 days. Meanwhile, Hungary's nuclear regulator has assumed a new, more independent, legal status.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has today received permission from the country's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority to bring the Olkiluoto 3 EPR to first criticality and conduct low-power tests. The unit is expected to begin generating electricity at the end of January, with regular electricity production starting in June 2022.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of the licences for the Palisades nuclear power plant from Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc to Holtec International following the plant's retirement next year. Holtec plans to take control of the Michigan plant and begin its decommissioning with a month of its retirement.

Westinghouse has submitted a pre-application regulatory engagement plan with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its eVinci microreactor, detailing the planned pre-licensing application interactions with the regulator. An REP helps reactor developers' early interactions with NRC staff and can reduce regulatory uncertainty and add predictability to licensing advanced technologies.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a draft safety evaluation report indicating its initial acceptance of Kairos Power's source term methodology for its Kairos Power fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor. The topical report, which Kairos submitted to the regulator in June 2020, is the first of its kind to be reviewed by the NRC.

Rolls-Royce SMR Limited has submitted its 470 MWe small modular reactor design for entry to the UK's Generic Design Assessment regulatory process. The review of the SMR design - based on a small pressurised water reactor - will formally begin once the government has assessed the company's capability and capacity to successfully enter the GDA process.

Separate Memoranda of Understanding supporting the future development and deployment of advanced small modular reactors in Canada will see Cameco and Terrestrial Energy investigate opportunities related to Terrestrial's Integrated Molten Salt Reactor, while ARC Clean Energy Canada and Cross River Infrastructure Partners LLC will work together to develop sustainable industrial projects using ARC's SMR technology. Meanwhile, Canada's nuclear regulator has granted a 10-year licence renewal for an Ontario Power Generation site earmarked for possible SMR deployment.

Nuclear power is the required energy source for development of the Russian gold deposit at Kyuchus, the country's minister of natural resources and the environment, Alexander Kozlov made clear as the deposit's development rights were auctioned. The small reactor planned for Ust-Kuyga will supply the mine.

US company Kairos Power has submitted the preliminary safety analysis report for its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of its application for a construction permit for the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor, which is to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Licensing of the planned Paks II nuclear power plant has been delayed, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority has announced. The organisation said it needs more time "to fully verify all requirements," but did not give an updated timeline for approval to construct the new reactors.