Swiss utility Axpo said yesterday it has submitted "verifiable proof" to the country's nuclear safety regulator that aluminium oxide inclusions in the reactor vessel of unit 1 at its Beznau nuclear power plant do not affect the unit's safety.

Russia's Atomtechenergo has received a licence to provide services involving nuclear energy and sources of ionizing radiation in Belarus. The Moscow-based company is a subsidiary of Atomenergoprom, the part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom that unites Russia's civilian nuclear industry.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has established a new network to help strengthen nuclear and radiation safety in Europe and Central Asia by facilitating dialogue and knowledge exchange between Member States in these regions. The European and Central Asian Safety Network brings together 20 Member States and 22 organisations with a responsibility for nuclear safety.

The United Arab Emirates has undertaken "strong and sustainable" nuclear security activities, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded. The Vienna-based agency carried out a two-week International Physical Protection Advisory Service mission at the UAE government's request.

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority announced today that MVM Paks II has submitted a site licence application for two new units it plans to build at the Paks site.

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.