The operator of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in Russia has demonstrated a commitment to safety and is taking many improvement initiatives, an Operational Safety Review Team team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded.

The governor of Japan's Fukui Prefecture has today approved the restart of units 3 and 4 of Kansai Electric Power Company's Ohi nuclear power plant. The utility reportedly plans to restart both units by mid-March.

Harmonising the training of contractors to access multiple nuclear facilities in the USA is one example of ensuring safety amid pressures on the industry to cut costs and remain competitive, Peter Prozesky, CEO of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, told World Nuclear News in a recent interview. This approach is one answer to the industry's need to align its procedures, as outlined in World Nuclear Association’s Harmony initiative, he added.

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency announced today they are progressing to the next phase of their Generic Design Assessment of the UK HPR1000 reactor. This 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 England.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of nuclear safety experts has today completed a seven-day mission to review safety at the Belgian Research Reactor 2 (BR2). Requested by Belgium's regulatory body, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control, the mission focused on ageing management and continued safe operation.

The nuclear safety regulators of China and Vietnam today signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. The two countries signed an agreement to cooperate in nuclear energy in 2000.

As nuclear vendors and operators have transformed into global players, so have nuclear regulators felt the impacts of globalisation, according to Christer Viktorsson, director general of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation in the United Arab Emirates. International collaborations and agreements between regulators can help to promote the highest global nuclear safety standards, he said.

Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) has awarded a 10-year extension to the operating licence of unit 5 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. NRA chairman Lachezar Kostov officially presented the document to the plant's executive director, Ivan Andreev, last week.

The UK government's top priority is to agree arrangements with the European Union related to energy - particularly nuclear energy - that are as close as possible to current arrangements, the country's energy minister has said. Richard Harrington last week addressed a parliamentary inquiry into Brexit and the UK's energy security.

The UK government's top priority is to agree arrangements with the European Union related to energy - particularly nuclear energy - that are as close as possible to current arrangements, the country's energy minister last week told a parliamentary inquiry into Brexit and the UK's energy security.

The Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has started "testing the readiness for physical start-up" of unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia. Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power plant operator subsidiary of Rosatom, started cold and hot function testing at the VVER-1200 unit in April.

Lithuania has established and maintains a robust and comprehensive physical security framework, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded. A separate team has found that Jordan has significantly strengthened its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety in recent years.