The use of artificial intelligence solutions could help achieve a step-change in nuclear safety, write Julianne Antrobus and Derreck Van Gelderen of PA Consulting.

A new research project supported by the European Union aims to clarify, enhance and unify methods of structural integrity assessment of safety-critical concrete infrastructure in support of long-term operation of nuclear power plants. Coordinated by Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre, the collaborative project seeks to improve the understanding of ageing and deterioration of such concrete.

A newly announced CAD55 million (USD42 million) contract for fuel channel maintenance to extend operations at Bruce 3 is one of several joint projects between Bruce Power and BWXT the companies say will advance Ontario's post-COVID economic recovery programme. The companies also announced the shipment of the first "made-in-Ontario" steam generator for Major Component Replacement project at Bruce unit 6.

Unit 5 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province has entered commercial operation, having successfully completed a 168-hour continuous demonstration run. It becomes China National Nuclear Corporation's 22nd reactor in commercial operation.

Milestones achieved within a recent two-week period demonstrate what nuclear technology is all about, what it is doing and can do for humanity, Agneta Rising, World Nuclear Association director general, said ahead of the Association's Strategic eForum 2020.

Hot functional testing of the Karachi 2 reactor in Pakistan was completed on 4 September, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today. The Chinese-designed Hualong One reactor is scheduled for commercial operation next year.

The Court of First Instance in Brussels ruled on 3 September in favour of a 2015 decision by Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control to allow Tihange unit 2 to restart following the discovery of hydrogen flakes in its reactor vessel. Plaintiffs from Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had sought to have the regulator's decision annulled.

Work has begun on the refurbishment of Darlington unit 3, Ontario Power Generation has announced. Unit 3 is the second of four Candu units at the site to undergo refurbishment in a 10-year project that will enable the plant to continue operations until 2055.

The process of loading of the 177 fuel assemblies into the core of unit 5 at China's Fuqing nuclear power plant has begun, China National Nuclear Corporation announced. The unit - the first of two demonstration Hualong One reactors at the site in Fujian province - is scheduled to begin operating by the end of this year.

Unit 2 of the Leningrad II nuclear power plant in Western Russia has started the final stage of its physical launch by reaching the minimum controllable power level. This means that the neutron flux control equipment has recorded stable neutron capacity, and the first self-sustained controlled nuclear reaction has commenced in the reactor core.

Fuel loading at the Olkiluoto 3 EPR will now not take place until March next year, according to a revised schedule provided to Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj by the Areva-Siemens consortium. Grid connection is now scheduled for October 2021, with regular electricity production due to start in February 2022.

US utility Exelon Generation announced today both the two-unit Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants will be retired in 2021 as "the result of market rules that favour polluting power plants over carbon-free nuclear energy". It warned that further plants are at risk of premature closure due to these unfavourable market rules.