Some of the fuel in the damaged unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant has melted and dropped into the primary containment vessel, initial results from using a muon detection system indicate. Part of the fuel, however, is believed to remain in the reactor pressure vessel.

International cooperation is high in the nuclear industry, but harmonising regulatory processes remains a challenge, delegates heard at the World Nuclear Association's annual symposium held in London recently. In addition, regulatory bodies face new tasks - licensing advanced reactor technologies, enhancing public confidence and assisting newcomer countries.

Areva TN has launched the NUHOMS Matrix advanced used nuclear fuel storage overpack, which it says "addresses the challenges faced by its customers in storing used fuel safely, efficiently and competitively". The system can reduce the footprint of on-site interim fuel storage facilities by almost 50%, the company says.

A new nuclear training centre has been inaugurated by Trihom, a training organisation jointly owned by New Areva and Engie's industrial maintenance subsidiary Endel. The new centre - in Equeurdreville-Hainneville, Normandy - is the largest nuclear training centre in France.

South Korea's economic growth has been owed in part to nuclear energy, and innovative use of radiation techniques will support sustainable development said the country's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Lee Jin-gyu. Yet the incoming government wants to focus only on reducing the chance of accident, he explained.

Positive actions have resulted in more stable supplies of key medical isotopes in 2017 than predicted three years ago, but vulnerabilities remain, a side event at the International Atomic Energy Agency's 61st General Conference in Vienna heard last week.

Rosatom director-general Alexey Likhachov has explained the Russian state nuclear corporation's "long-range agenda" at the 61st Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference being held this week in Vienna. During the event, Rosatom signed a number of agreements with its international partners.

The NuScale Power Module design has "some unique features that help with alternative uses of nuclear power", Thomas Bergman, NuScale's vice president for regulatory affairs, told the World Nuclear Association's Symposium, held in London last week. The company has completed five collaborative studies on non-power applications of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology, he said.

China is moving rapidly towards using nuclear power as an industrial heat source and as a direct replacement for coal, Yulong Wu, CEO of Chinergy, told a side event at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) General Conference today.

Australia has formally acceded to the Framework Agreement of the Generation IV International Forum, an international task force set up to develop and design the next generation of nuclear energy systems. Accession allows Australia, which has no nuclear power program of its own, to become actively engaged in R&D projects related to Generation IV systems.

Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachov yesterday visited the construction site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which the Russian state nuclear corporation said has now entered the "full-scale practical implementation phase". Rosatom also announced that it has sent the latest batch of six trailers with high-current busbars for the power supply systems of Iter's superconducting magnet.