The International Atomic Energy Agency has established a new network to help strengthen nuclear and radiation safety in Europe and Central Asia by facilitating dialogue and knowledge exchange between Member States in these regions. The European and Central Asian Safety Network brings together 20 Member States and 22 organisations with a responsibility for nuclear safety.

The evacuation order for the town of Kawamata in Fukushima prefecture will be lifted next March, allowing residents to permanently return to their homes there, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced.

UPDATED A small amount of radioactive iodine was released into the environment yesterday during an incident involving the handling of test fuel in the reactor hall of the Halden research reactor in Norway.

Rosatom subsidiary United Corporation for Innovation LLC and the Indian Agricultural Association have signed an agreement on the development of "a network of integrated infrastructure centres" for radiation treatment in India. The agreement was signed today on the sidelines of the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi by the Russian company's CEO, Denis Cherednichenko, and the chairman of the Indian association, Bharat Dhokane Pandurang.

An operating licence was issued yesterday for the new interim used fuel storage at the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania, the State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (Vatesi) announced today. The licence permits commissioning of the facility, known as the ISFSF B1 Project, and the start of hot trials with ten new design casks. ISFSF B1 Project is located in Visaginas municipality.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has signed agreements with two Russian regulatory authorities to cooperate in enhancing the country's national radiation safety standards and the implementation of international safety standards. The agency signed a similar agreement with Rosatom last year.

A new handbook has been compiled with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency to better prepare medical staff to communicate with the public about possible health effects of radiation during and after a nuclear or radiological emergency.

A new international radiation monitoring information system launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will collect and display data to help countries respond rapidly in nuclear or radiological emergencies.

A crucial project at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant can now proceed to its final stages thanks to additional pledges by the international donor community at a conference in Kiev yesterday. On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and President of the European Council Donald Tusk held talks by telephone during which Tusk underlined the EU's "comprehensive support" to Ukraine in overcoming the consequences of the disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that it has today started up the equipment to create a wall of frozen soil at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to prevent groundwater entering the reactor buildings. Regulatory approval to partially activate the ice wall was received yesterday.

Spanish firm Escuadrone has developed what it claims is the world's first drone equipped with a system for detecting radioactivity. The drone can be used in the management of nuclear-related emergencies, it says.

Five years after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi, the scientific community is ready to assess what the real health consequences have been and put them into perspective with other risks in our lives, Gerry Thomas told the BBC in an interview.