PT ThorCon Power Indonesia - a subsidiary of USA-based ThorCon - has signed an agreement with Indonesia's Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency to officially start a safety, security and safeguards consultation in preparation for licensing a demonstration 500 MWe floating ThorCon molten salt reactor.

Egypt's nuclear regulator has issued a construction licence for unit 3 of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant, which will eventually house four Russian-supplied reactors. Construction of unit 3 is scheduled to begin in the coming months.

The UK's Environment Agency has granted EDF Energy subsidiary NNB Generation Company (Sizewell C) Limited three environmental permits for the planned Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, England. Meanwhile, Sizewell C and Associated British Ports are developing plans to locate a unique Direct Air Capture facility at Lowestoft, capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using low-carbon heat from nuclear.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review Northern States Power Company-Minnesota's application for subsequent licence renewal for the Monticello plant. The regulator is also moving forward with revisions to its rule on the environmental considerations behind such renewals.

Days after California's energy commission agreed that continued operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant until at least 2030 was necessary, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted an exemption allowing the two units to continue operating while the agency considers Pacific Gas & Electric Co's application to renew the plant's licence.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's APR1000 reactor design has been formally certified as compliant by the European Utility Requirements organisation - a technical advisory group for European utilities on nuclear power plants.

In an interview for the World Nuclear News podcast GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s President and CEO Jay Wileman explained why nuclear has a key role in achieving carbon reduction targets, and how regulatory harmonisation between different countries could help speed that process.

Jadrová Energetická Spoločnosť Slovenska has submitted a request to the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority for a siting permit for a new nuclear power plant near the existing Bohunice plant in Jaslovské Bohunice, a small village in the west of the Slovak Republic.

The Finnish government has granted Fortum an extension to the operating licence for the two-unit Loviisa nuclear power plant, allowing the plant to continue generating power until the end of 2050.

A construction licence has been granted by the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection for the Pallas research reactor in Petten, the Netherlands. The new reactor will replace the existing High Flux Reactor.

What can be done to improve the process of getting approval for one reactor design in different countries?

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded a five-day Site and External Events Design mission to Uzbekistan, which plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the southeast of the country.