Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy has reached a regulatory milestone in its progress towards deployment of the UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, following confirmation that British regulators will move to the final step of the Generic Design Assessment. The GDA process for the UK ABWR is on schedule for completion by the end of 2017.

US utility Exelon will defer any decision about the future operations of its Clinton nuclear power plant for a year after the Midcontinent Independent System Operator regional transmission organization acknowledged the need for changes to the design of the southern Illinois electricity market.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) program to analyse earthquake risk at US nuclear plants will be completed sooner than planned after the regulator found that in-depth studies are needed at fewer plants than originally thought.

The nuclear regulators of the USA and Spain have renewed a bilateral agreement, originally signed in 1979, on cooperation. Meanwhile, a new director has been appointed to head the Spanish regulator.

Unit 2 of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture was restarted today, plant owner Kyushu Electric Power Company announced. It becomes the second Japanese reactor to resume operation after the country idled its entire fleet following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The restart of units 3 and 4 of Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama nuclear power plant moved a step closer today with Japan's nuclear regulator confirming the units meet new safety requirements.

Areva's proposed methodology to demonstrate the strength of the reactor vessel of the EPR under construction at Flamanville is "acceptable", according to a letter French nuclear regulator published on its website yesterday. The ASN (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire) referred to the recommendations  a group of nuclear pressure equipment specialists (GP ESPN) had made following a meeting with the regulator on 30 September.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced senior personnel changes and office reorganizations as it moves to streamline its operations.

Industry leaders last week debated how to bridge the gap between the World Nuclear Association's vision of an extra 1000 GWe of new nuclear power capacity by 2050, and the practicalities of working within current political, regulatory and financial environments.

Several international cooperation agreements related to nuclear safety and regulation have been signed this week on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna.

Japan considered its nuclear power plants safe and was therefore not prepared for the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano has said in a comprehensive report on the accident.