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.

Total US nuclear electricity generation declined slightly for the second consecutive year in 2021, although nuclear's share of electricity generation has remained similar to its average share over the previous decade, according to figures from the US Energy Information Administration.

EDF Energy is leading a Long-Term Operation programme aimed at extending the operating lifespan of Sizewell B - the UK's only pressurised water reactor and newest nuclear power plant - by at least 20 years to 2055.

Following the departure of the Russian forces, the site and its surroundings are being checked for safety, and the radiation situation assessed, Ukraine says.

In a joint statement, the European Nuclear Society and the American Nuclear Society call for an end to further hostilities at any nuclear energy facilities in Ukraine and "denounce misinformation spread by any party regarding the safety status of nuclear facilities".

Unit 3 of the Karachi nuclear power plant in Pakistan - a Chinese-supplied Hualong One reactor - reached 100% capacity for the first time on 31 March. The 1100 MWe pressurised water reactor is currently undergoing power ascension testing prior to entering commercial operation.

Latest updates, 1 April:
• Ukraine says Russian forces, who took control of Chernobyl on 24 February, have left and handed it back to Ukraine
• IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi holds talks in Kaliningrad with Russian officials about nuclear safety in Ukraine
• He says he will head an IAEA "assistance and support mission" mission to Chernobyl "as soon as possible"
• Director general says the IAEA has agreed a safety framework, agreed separately with Ukraine and with Russia
• The World Association of Nuclear Operators has transferred Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom from its Moscow to its Paris centre

The ten experts focused on aspects essential to safe Long Term Operation of the two units at South Africa's nuclear power plant - operator Eskom wants to extend their lives by 20 years to 2045, which will give a total operational lifetime of 60 years.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has said during a visit to the South Ukraine nuclear power plant that "nothing that happens here will be unnoticed, because the IAEA will be here to support you and say whenever there is a problem".

The process of loading the 157 fuel assemblies into the core of unit 6 of the Hongyanhe plant in Liaoning province has been completed, China General Nuclear announced. The unit - the second of two ACPR-1000 reactors built as Phase II of the plant - is scheduled to begin operations later this year.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that the staff who volunteered to replace the workers who had been on-site for 25 days, have now themselves been there for nearly a week.