Unit 4 of Belgium's Doel nuclear power plant will remain out of operation until at least the end of this year, Electrabel has announced. An investigation continues into the loss of lubricating oil from the unit's steam turbine system.

Belgian nuclear safety regulators think it was probably deliberate action by a worker that caused lubricant to be lost from Doel 4's steam turbine system. The plant shut down automatically.

Electrabel said it will reconsider the future of its nuclear activities in Belgium after the Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal over the tax levied on nuclear power operators in 2012 by the Belgian government.

Belgian utility Electrabel has brought forward planned outages for units at its Tihange and Doel plants after additional tests on hydrogen flakes suggested these may affect the mechanical properties of their reactor vessels.

Plutonium and highly-enriched uranium research reactor fuel in Japan will be sent to the USA for downblending or disposal. The announcement came as world leaders convene in the Netherlands for the third Nuclear Security Summit.

Canada-based L-3 MAPPS is to supply unit 1 of the Tihange nuclear power plant in Belgium with a full-scope operator training simulator.

Belgium's SCK-CEN has awarded a €24 million ($32 million) contract for front-end engineering design for the Myrrha accelerator-driven research reactor to a multinational consortium led by Areva.

Belgian reactor operator Electrabel is preparing to restart units at Tihange and Doel after national nuclear regulators confirmed that crack-like indications discovered in the reactors' pressure vessels are of no safety significance.

Belgium's BR2 reactor is to run an additional production cycle to guarantee supplies of vital medical isotopes while the Netherlands' HFR reactor remains out of action due to unforeseen problems.

Belgian utility Electrabel has submitted an action plan to the country's nuclear regulator for carrying out additional tests to determine whether two of its reactors can safely be restarted following the discovery of manufacturing defects in their reactor pressure vessels last year.

While investigations continue into possible manufacturing defects in the reactor pressure vessel of unit 3 of Belgium's Doel nuclear power plant, nuclear safety authorities in other countries are assessing vessels of plants supplied by the same manufacturer for similar flaws.

Unit 3 of the Doel nuclear power plant in Belgium is to remain offline while investigations are made into possible cracks in its reactor pressure vessel. As a precaution, other Belgian reactors will also be checked for cracks, the national regulator said.