The Spanish nuclear regulator has approved the renewal of the operating licence for Iberdrola's Cofrentes nuclear power plant near Valencia until the end of November 2030. The 1064 MWe boiling water reactor, which entered commercial operation in March 1985, is then scheduled to be decommissioned.

The harsh winter at the turn of 2021 has made the case for nuclear power stronger than ever, writes Masakazu Toyoda, CEO and chairman of the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan.

South African utility Eskom and the National Nuclear Regulator have refuted media reports that the reinforced concrete containment buildings at the Koeberg nuclear power plant have suffered extensive corrosion and would not be able to prevent the release of radiation in the event of a severe accident. They say tests have confirmed the performance of the structures, to which repairs have already been made.

The nuclear industry risks being left behind if it fails to follow the example of sectors like aviation to adopt digital technologies, William Magwood, director general of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency said yesterday. Speaking in the plenary session of SNETP Forum 2021, he said the research community must "make the case" for this.

The use of advanced nuclear technologies could help the world meet increasing electricity demand whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the deployment and commercialisation of advanced reactors faces many challenges, according to a discussion on nuclear innovation at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a topical report on Westinghouse Advanced Doped Pellet Technology Fuel, which the company has said is a major achievement for the advanced fuel portfolio it is developing as part of its EnCore fuel programme.

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.

The UK's Environment Agency has published its assessment so far of the UK Hualong One pressurised water reactor (UK HPR1000) as it invites public comment on this proposed new reactor design. The UK HPR1000 is the Hualong One design that General Nuclear Services - a subsidiary of EDF and China General Nuclear - proposes to use at a prospective new nuclear power plant in Bradwell, England.

Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control has approved the restart of Tihange unit 2 following a maintenance outage after concluding no new hydrogen flakes have appeared and the existing flakes had not increased in size. Operator Electrabel is required to regularly check that the situation has not changed since the flakes were first discovered in 2012.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has approved a 10-year extension to the operating licence of unit 5 at the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant. The VVER-1000/V-320 reactor was commissioned in August 1989 and its original 30-year licence expired on 27 May 2020. The new licence extends the operation of unit 5 as well as of the facilities technologically related to it.

The nuclear plant licensing system should be rationalised to promote the extensive deployment at competitive cost of new reactors, according to a report issued this month by the Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing Working Group of World Nuclear Association.

Fennovoima Oy has "provisionally accepted" the 'Basic Design Stage 1' documentation for the Hanhikivi-1 project in Finland from the nuclear reactor supplier, RAOS Project Oy, which is a subsidiary of Rusatom Energy International JSC, which is itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.