A multi-disciplinary US Nuclear Regulatory Commission team has begun a 'top-to-bottom' review at Entergy's Pilgrim nuclear power plant. The review will take a total of three weeks and is the third and largest NRC inspection conducted as part of the regulator's heightened scrutiny of the Massachusetts plant.

Cold hydrostatic testing has been started at unit 3 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province, China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Company Limited has announced. The Russian-supplied VVER-1000 is scheduled to start up in 2018.

The head of Energoatom has described the World Association of Nuclear Operators' first cross-regional review, which is taking place at the Rovno nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as a "very useful" exercise that reflects changes to WANO's approach following the 2011 Fukushima accident in Japan.

Tepco found no "abnormalities" at its Fukushima plants following an off-shore earthquake on Tuesday morning. The cooling system in the used fuel pool of Tepco's Fukushima Daini unit 3 automatically shut but was subsequently restarted. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued tsunami warnings following the magnitude 7.4 quake.

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.

Cold hydrostatic testing has been completed at unit 1 of the Shin Hanul nuclear power plant in South Korea's North Gyeongsang province, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced today. The APR-1400 reactor is scheduled to start up in early 2018.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved an extension to the operating period for Kansai Electric Power's Mihama unit 3, enabling the plant to operate for up to 60 years.

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.

French nuclear power plant operator EDF has improved operational safety over the past two years, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, it noted that more time is needed for further enhancements to be made.

Institutional and cultural changes are needed if advanced nuclear reactor designs are to progress from development to deployment by 2030, the Global Nexus Initiative has said in a report to policymakers. The GNI has put forward ten policy recommendations to enable these changes.

Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom has agreed to enhance its cooperation with Chinese, Argentinian and Spanish companies - respectively, China National Nuclear Power, Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA and IDOM Nuclear Services.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers announced yesterday they had signed an agreement establishing practical arrangements to cooperate in sharing of best practices and documents and standards development in the area of nuclear safety and energy.