The Swedish nuclear regulator has recommended that the operators of the four reactors that will shut earlier than planned - Oskarshamn units 1 and 2 and Ringhals 1 and 2 - should pay higher waste fees to ensure the country's nuclear waste fund is sufficient.

Swiss utility Axpo has submitted a road map to the country's nuclear regulator for further investigations of flaw indications in the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of the Beznau plant. The company does not now expect the unit to restart until at least August 2016.

Rolls-Royce plans to help Rosatom avoid falling foul of regulators by sharing the lessons it has learned from producing instrumentation and control (I&C) systems for the nuclear power industry. Stéphane Lessi, the British engineering group's I&C customer business director, said yesterday that this advice will assist the Russian nuclear corporation in its Hanhikivi 1 and Paks II projects in Finland and Hungary, but will also apply to VVER modernization and construction projects in other Wenra markets.

The nuclear regulators of China and South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding to reinforce their cooperation in nuclear safety.

New safety requirements on nuclear emergency preparedness and response published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) incorporate lessons learned and developments since 2002, including lessons from Fukushima.

A group led by Virginia Uranium Inc yesterday filed a second lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Virginia's moratorium on uranium mining. A suit filed by the same plaintiffs earlier this year is still ongoing.

Georgia Power has received the final major permit needed for its new nuclear units under construction at Vogtle with the issuance of a water discharge permit from state environmental regulators.

Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control yesterday announced it had approved the restart of the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 nuclear power plant units. Operator of the plants, Electrabel, said the regulator had concluded that "it is totally safe" to bring the reactors back into operation, following investigations into manufacturing flaws in their pressure vessels.

Completion of Japan's Rokkasho reprocessing plant and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel factory have been postponed by around two years as work continues to comply with new safety requirements.

 The national nuclear regulators of South Africa and China have signed a bilateral technical cooperation agreement which will see them share information on regulatory activities.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) could license a non-light water reactor under its current regulatory framework, but needs input from the nuclear industry and the US Department of Energy (DOE) to optimize its planning and resources, commission chairman Stephen Burns has told the American Nuclear Society (ANS).

A revised environmental permit has been issued to LLW Repository Limited allowing the continued disposal of low-level radioactive wastes at the UK's national repository for such wastes at Drigg in Cumbria.