The Tennessee Valley Authority has requested that regulators issue an operating licence for unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant.

Finnish ownership of Fennovoima, which plans to build the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant, now exceeds 65% following new financial commitments from three domestic companies. The processing of Fennovoima's construction licence application can now proceed.

Spain's nuclear regulator has concluded that Villar de Cañas is a suitable site for a national high-level waste storage facility. However, it has requested additional technical studies and reports.

Kyushu Electric Power Company plans to apply to regulators for the final 'applied safety inspection' of Sendai 1 on 3 August. This check is expected to take one week, making 10 August a potential start-up date.

Unistar Nuclear Energy's withdrawal of its combined construction and operation licence (COL) application for Calvert Cliffs unit 3 has been formally accepted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Finland's Ministry of Employment and the Economy announced today that it has been unable to confirm whether Migrit Energija, the Croatian company intending to take a stake in the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant project, is in fact European-controlled.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board announced that construction of unit 2 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu has been completed. It also issued a licence for the regular operation of unit 1 and a siting permit for a project to build four reactors in Gorakhpur in Haryana.

Nuclear fuel will be loaded at Sendai 1 tomorrow, marking a significant step on its road to becoming the first Japanese reactor to restart, later this year.

The would-be builders and owners of the first NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) have confirmed they plan to submit a design certification application to US regulators by the end of 2016 and an application for a combined construction and operation licence (COL) in late 2017 or early 2018.

Fennovoima has today submitted its construction licence application to the Finland's Ministry of Employment and the Economy for the planned Hanhikivi nuclear power plant project. However, issues remain regarding the level of Finnish ownership in the project.

JSC Akkuyu NPP, the Russian-owned company responsible for Turkey's first nuclear power plant, has been awarded a preliminary licence, enabling the company to start investment and permitting procedures for the project.

The Swedish nuclear regulator has said it believes the country's radioactive waste management company can meet all the safety and radiation protection requirements for its planned repository for used nuclear fuel.