UPDATED Tokyo Electric Power Company has confirmed the presence of what could be melted fuel and fallen debris within the lower part of the flooded primary containment vessel of unit 3 at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Similar surveys using robots have already been carried out at units 1 and 2 of the plant.

The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority received more than GBP1.0 billion ($1.3 billion) of commercial income in the 2016/2017 financial year, which it says reduced the "net impact on the public purse" to GBP2.2 billion. According to its annual report and accounts, published yesterday, the exact figure was GBP1.025 billion, which was down from GBP1.094 billion in 2015/2016. Around 85% of its income, GBP612 million, came from the reprocessing and management of used fuel and waste.

Italy is committed to the safe and effective decommissioning of nuclear sites and management of associated radioactive waste, an International Atomic Energy Agency mission has concluded. However, it noted areas for potential improvement.

NAC International's completion of a dry fuel storage campaign at the Kewaunee nuclear power plant four years after the unit shut down has set a new benchmark for the transfer of used fuel to dry storage.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been urged to consider the climate and environmental impacts of phasing out the use of nuclear energy in the country. Moon used the permanent shutdown of Kori unit 1 last month to outline his intended nuclear energy phase-out policy.

Bulgaria's nuclear regulatory agency plans to use €3 million ($3.42 million) in funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for its role in the decommissioning of units 1-4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The money will come from the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund that is administered by the London-based bank.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved a plan to decommission unit 1 of Shikoku Electric Power Company's Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime prefecture. The reactor was due to end its 40-year operating period in September this year and could have applied to the NRA to extend its licence for a further 20 years if it invested in upgrade work.

The two companies responsible for the clean-up of the UK's nuclear legacy are willing to share lessons learned with the global decommissioning industry, Martyn Jenkins, managing director of Enkom Consulting, told a recent conference. Both Sellafield Ltd and Magnox Ltd have "moved from operational to project delivery" and have identified five main challenges, Jenkins said.

The first shipment of used nuclear fuel assemblies from Russian nuclear submarines has left the former base of the Russian Northern Fleet at Andreeva Bay. Over 20,000 used fuel assemblies are to be retrieved, packed and removed from the site under an international initiative financed by the Nuclear Window of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP), which is administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

All the fuel element debris waste at the UK's Bradwell nuclear power plant has now been treated to reduce the radiological risk at the site, Magnox Ltd announced yesterday. Removal of the waste is an important step towards Bradwell's planned closure, it said.

Unit 1 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden has been permanently shut down. A decision not to restart the unit after an operational issue resulted in it closing ten days ahead of schedule.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in has used the permanent shutdown of Kori unit 1 to outline his intended nuclear energy phase-out policy. He said no new reactors would be planned and existing units will not operate beyond 40 years.