The return to service next month of unit 2 at the Koeberg nuclear power plant will help to reduce pressure on South Africa's constrained power system, state-owned utility Eskom says. The return to service of the unit, which has been offline for refuelling and maintenance, will support utility efforts to reduce loadshedding and meet high demand as the country moves into winter.

All four of the Candu units that make up the Bruce A generating station in Canada have been taken offline for periodic inspection and maintenance work on the plant's vacuum building in a once-in-12-years outage that has been years in the planning.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told a European Parliament hearing that it is a very "fragile situation" and "terribly complicated" but his aim to lead an inspection mission to Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russian forces, is not yet at a "dead end".

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine said the decision to suspend some licences was taken after considering the impact of the damage in the exclusion zone resulting from the Russian military occupation of the area.

The meeting came as the International Atomic Energy Agency continues efforts to get its inspectors access to the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant. In other developments, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has suspended some licences at Chernobyl, as a result of the recent occupation.

Unit 6 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has been connected to the grid, China General Nuclear announced. The unit - the second of two ACPR-1000 reactors built as Phase II of the plant - is scheduled to enter commercial operation later this year.

The start of regular electricity production at Olkiluoto 3 in Finland has been postponed by two months due to necessary inspections and repairs to the cooling system of the unit's generator, operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj announced. Regular electricity production at the EPR unit had previously been expected to begin at the end of July.

A damaged external power line has been repaired allowing Zaporozhe to return to previous output levels, Energoatom said. It comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency continues efforts to get access to the plant for its inspectors - and outlines the initial results of its radiation monitoring during its mission to Chernobyl.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, told the Associated Press, his organisation needs access to Europe's largest nuclear power plant for safety inspections and to help carry out necessary repairs.

Unit 6 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time. The unit - the second of two ACPR-1000 reactors built as Phase II of the plant - is scheduled to enter commercial operation later this year.

The US Department of Energy has opened the applications process for the first award cycle of the USD6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit programme to support the continued operation of US nuclear reactors under threat of premature closure.

Unit 3 of the Karachi nuclear power plant in Pakistan passed acceptance tests on 18 April, marking the Chinese-supplied Hualong One reactor's entry into commercial operation, China National Nuclear Corporation announced.