The UK and Japan have signed a research and technology deployment collaboration agreement to help automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion energy production. The collaboration is expected to lead to new robotics and automation techniques used in Japan and the UK.

Upgrades to safety measures to comply with new regulatory requirements were completed yesterday at unit 7 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced. Although the utility has already received regulatory approval to restart the reactor, it must still obtain local consent.

Japan will need nuclear power if it is to realise the government's carbon neutrality goal and should therefore restart idled nuclear reactors as soon as possible, as well as work to extend their operating lifetimes and build new nuclear capacity, the heads of the Japanese Atomic Industry Forum and the Japan Iron and Steel Federation have said in separate New Year messages.

Operation of the mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant under construction in Rokkasho, in Aomori Prefecture, is now expected about two years later than previously planned. Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited had aimed to complete its construction in the first half of fiscal 2022 (ending March 2023), but now expects this in the first half of fiscal 2024.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved the modification of safety measures at Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited's mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant under construction in Rokkasho, in Aomori Prefecture. Under the current schedule, the facility is expected to be completed between April and September 2022.

A district court has struck down government approval of safety measures at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Japan's Fukui Prefecture, "effectively rejecting tougher safety screening guidelines" used by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, according to the Asahi Shimbun. The lawsuit did not seek a temporary injunction, so the two reactors can continue operating until the ruling is finalised.

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with nuclear power maintenance service provider Atox Company Limited regarding the transfer of its nuclear power business to Atox for an undisclosed sum. KHI said it will instead focus on the development of hydrogen technology.

Kyushu Electric Power Company has restarted unit 1 of its Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture having completed construction of a bunkered back-up control centre as required under revised safety regulations. The 890 MWe pressurised water reactor is the first unit to resume operation in the country after building such a facility.

Japan's Nuclear Waste Management Organisation has begun the initial stage of assessing two municipalities in Hokkaido Prefecture for their suitability to host a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. This marks the first time such preliminary surveys have ever been conducted in the country.

Tohoku Electric Power Company today received approval from Murai Yoshihiro, the governor of Miyagi Prefecture, to restart unit 2 of its Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture. The utility aims to restart the 796 MWe boiling water reactor in fiscal 2022 at the earliest.

Holtec International's canister-based dry used fuel storage technology is set to be deployed in Japan following its signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy. Holtec said its technology provides an alternative option to the technologies currently used in Japan.

Three independent Japanese experts are to monitor the collection of marine samples near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The aim is to support the quality assurance of data collection and analysis by Japanese laboratories for radioactivity measurements.