US nuclear power plants achieved their highest level of generation ever in 2018, despite the closure of several plants since the previous peak, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Long-term irradiation testing of China National Nuclear Corporation's CF3 pressurised water reactor fuel has been completed.

Mexican state utility CFE has a good basis to manage the long-term operation of the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has found.

Canadian company Kinectrics has been awarded contracts for projects related to safety at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania and lifetime asset management at the Bruce plant in Canada.

One of three new replacement steam generators has arrived at the port of Dunkerque in northern France ahead of their installation at unit 5 of the nearby Gravelines nuclear power plant. Installation of the original replacement components was delayed from 2016 after discrepancies were found in their manufacturing files.

An agreement to jointly participate in overseas nuclear digital instrumentation and control projects has recently been signed between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. Both companies were involved in the development of the Korean Digital I&C system.

Norway's Institute for Energy Technology has delayed the restart of the JEEP-II research reactor at Kjeller after corrosion was discovered on several components during a maintenance outage. The reactor will require "extensive and costly" repairs if it is to be restarted.

All of the USA's 98 operating commercial reactors were in the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's two highest performance categories for 2018. Entergy's Pilgrim plant has returned to the highest operating level.

EDF in 2018 achieved all its financial objectives and exceeded the targets of its performance plan, company chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy announced last week. Its performance would be "amplified" in 2019, he said during the presentation of its results.

Kyushu Electric Power Company today announced its decision not to restart unit 2 at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Japan's Saga prefecture. The unit becomes the tenth operable Japanese reactor to be declared for decommissioning since the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

A ceremony has been held to mark the loading of the first fuel into unit 4 at South Korea's Shin Kori nuclear power plant. The country's nuclear regulator gave Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power permission to start up the APR1400 unit on 1 February.

Exelon has thanked its employees for "braving the cold" to keep its nuclear power plants in Illinois, New Jersey and New York operating at full power as extreme weather conditions hit the USA last week.