Three Japanese utilities - Chubu, Hokuriku and Tokyo Electric Power Company - have agreed to collaborate on improving their nuclear safety through technical cooperation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency will look to strengthen its activities to bolster nuclear safety around the world, the agency's director-general Yukiya Amano told its board of governors yesterday. He also informed the board of progress in the IAEA's other work.

The World Association of Nuclear Operators has submitted a report on its first ever cross-centre review, which took place at the Rovno nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Gaetan Le Corvec, head of operations at WANO's Paris Centre, said the review had revealed "no critical shortcomings" at the plant.

Japan's Tohoku Electric Power Company has pushed back the expected completion dates of construction work to bolster safety at unit 2 of its Onagawa nuclear power plant and unit 1 of its Higashidori plant. The work must be completed before the units will be allowed to resume operation.

Tepco Holdings has made significant progress in its adoption of a stronger safety culture, an advisory body to the company has said. The Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, which has reviewed the company's self-assessment, made several recommendations for further improvement.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded a five-day Site and External Events Design mission to Belarus, which is building its first nuclear power reactors. The two Russian-designed 1170 MWe VVER units are scheduled to begin operations by 2020.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has confirmed that Kyushu Electric's Genkai units 3 and 4 in Saga Prefecture meet new regulatory standards. The Japan Atomic Industry Forum said today that the decision, which Kyushu announced on 18 January, was based on the NRA's approval of a revised review of reactor upgrade plans at the two 1180 MWe pressurized water reactors.

Japan's future use of nuclear energy could be significantly impacted by decisions made this year on restarting reactors and extending the operating periods of its older units, according to the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. However, it sees nuclear playing an important role in achieving energy security, economy and environmental protection.

Kyushu Electric Power Company yesterday began the process of restarting the reactor of unit 1 at its Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture following a periodic inspection. The prefectural governor had opposed the restart of the unit, which resumed operation in August 2015 following a shutdown of the country's nuclear fleet.

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.

Spanish nuclear regulators have approved new post-Fukushima design modifications at the country's nuclear power plants, including final approvals for emergency management centres.

In the five-and-a-half years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, "steady progress" is being made in the decommissioning process and contaminated water management at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Hirotaka Ishihara, state minister of the cabinet office of Japan, told the International Atomic Energy Agency's 60th General Conference yesterday. Decontamination and environmental remediation are "moving forward" and the evacuation zones are "growing smaller", Ishihara said.