An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded that the Paks nuclear power plant has improved operational safety by following recommendations and suggestions made in a 2014 IAEA review, but noted that further work is needed. The Operational Safety Review Team completed a five-day follow-up mission to the four-unit plant in central Hungary today.

A proposal to change decommissioning rules in Japan could mean that operators will contribute to funds only during operation, and not, as previously, for a decade after final shutdown.

The French nuclear safety authority has requested five of EDF's nuclear power units are taken offline for additional inspections on their steam generators within the next three months. The steel in parts of those components has been found to contain high concentrations of carbon.

Continued government backing and resources are needed to further build the Belarusian nuclear safety regulator's technical capabilities ahead of the start up of the country's first nuclear power reactor, an International Atomic Energy Agency team has concluded.

Sweden has made good progress over the past five years in its legislative and regulatory framework for physical protection and computer security at nuclear power facilities and in the transport of nuclear materials, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation has the expertise and resources it needs should it receive a request from government to assess China's Hualong One reactor design, its chief nuclear inspector, Richard Savage, said today. ONR's chief executive, Adriènne Kelbie, added that she sees no need for wholesale change at the organisation and that recruitment of inspectors and other staff is on target. They spoke to World Nuclear News during the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference being held this week in Vienna.

Licensing small modular reactors "presents a new opportunity for standardisation" in the nuclear power industry, Vanessa Jakovich, counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, told delegates at the World Nuclear Association’s 41st Annual Symposium in London on 16 September.

The importance of standardisation in the evaluation of reactor designs is key to making nuclear power plant projects more efficient and cost-effective, Jerry Head, senior vice president of regulatory affairs at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy told delegates at the World Nuclear Association's 41st Annual Symposium in London last week. Head outlined seven areas where such an approach can bring harmony to the process of managing projects from the design licensing stage through to decommissioning.

The production of a replica part of the reactor pressure vessel used in unit 1 of Switzerland's Beznau nuclear power plant has shown that aluminium oxide inclusions in the vessel formed during its manufacture, utility Axpo said. The unit has been offline for more than a year whilst the safety of its vessel is investigated.

Japan Electric Power Development Corp has announced a further two-year delay in the construction of additional safety measures at unit 1 of the Ohma nuclear power plant, being built in Japan's Aomori prefecture. Construction of the unit is now expected to be completed in late 2023 or early 2024.

Kansai Electric Power Company has released a plan of safety improvement works it will carry out to extend the operating periods of units 1 and 2 of its Takahama nuclear power plant in Japan's Fukui prefecture beyond 40 years. Regulatory approval for operating the units for up to 60 years has already been granted.

China's regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety is effective but will need to keep pace with the country's nuclear energy program, an International Atomic Energy Agency peer review mission has concluded.