The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority announced today that MVM Paks II has submitted a site licence application for two new units it plans to build at the Paks site.

A proposal to change decommissioning rules in Japan could mean that operators will contribute to funds only during operation, and not, as previously, for a decade after final shutdown.

The French nuclear safety authority has requested five of EDF's nuclear power units are taken offline for additional inspections on their steam generators within the next three months. The steel in parts of those components has been found to contain high concentrations of carbon.

Hungary's plan to build two additional reactors at Paks has reached an important milestone with the receipt of an environmental licence for the project, Attila Aszódi, the government commissioner responsible for Paks II, told World Nuclear News yesterday. It confirms the project meets the environmental requirements of both Hungary and those of the European Union.

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation has the expertise and resources it needs should it receive a request from government to assess China's Hualong One reactor design, its chief nuclear inspector, Richard Savage, said today. ONR's chief executive, Adriènne Kelbie, added that she sees no need for wholesale change at the organisation and that recruitment of inspectors and other staff is on target. They spoke to World Nuclear News during the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference being held this week in Vienna.

Steam generators at Fessenheim and Bugey are the only current areas of action for the French Nuclear Safety Authority, which has published a list of all the uncovered irregularities in manufacturing paperwork.

Licensing small modular reactors "presents a new opportunity for standardisation" in the nuclear power industry, Vanessa Jakovich, counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, told delegates at the World Nuclear Association’s 41st Annual Symposium in London on 16 September.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its final safety evaluation report for combined licences for two proposed nuclear power units at the William States Lee III site.

The licence application by Sweden's radioactive waste management company for an integrated system for the final disposal of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste has been endorsed by the country's Radiation Safety Authority. A final decision to licence the facilities will be made next year.

South Korea's nuclear regulator has today approved the construction of units 5 and 6 of the Shin Kori nuclear power plant. The APR1400 units are scheduled to begin operating in March 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Spain's nuclear regulator has approved the renewal for a further ten years of the operating licence for Enusa's Juzbado nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Salamanca.

Argentina's nuclear regulator has issued a licence to Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA for the commercial operation of the second unit of the Atucha nuclear power plant. The 745 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor has been operating on a conditional licence.