Russian and Bulgarian companies have signed a contract to extend the operating life of unit 6 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant to 60 years. The agreement - between Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant plc and a consortium of Russia's Rusatom Services and Bulgaria's Risk Engineering Ltd - was signed during a meeting of the Bulgarian-Russian intergovernmental commission on economic and scientific-technical cooperation in Sofia yesterday, by Evgeny Sal'kov, general director of Rusatom Services, and Dimitar Angelov, executive director of Kozloduy NPP plc.

China's State Council has today issued its first white paper on nuclear energy, detailing policies and measures to boost nuclear emergency preparedness and promoting nuclear security. Nuclear safety, it says, has been strengthened in parallel with development of its nuclear industry.

Entergy has asked a US federal court to reject New York State's objection to coastal certification of Indian Point, which it says was intended to block a renewal of the nuclear power plant's operating licence.

The Russian energy ministry has approved Rosenergoatom's 2016-2018 investment program, allocating almost RUB570 billion ($7 billion) to the civil nuclear power plant operator. The program was approved by a government order dated 14 January and published on the ministry's website yesterday.

The loading all 157 fuel assemblies into the core of unit 4 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has been completed. The reactor is scheduled to start up early this year.

Unit 3 of South Korea's Shin Kori nuclear power plant was connected to the grid on 15 January and has started supplying electricity, plant owner Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power announced yesterday.

Testing of the instrumentation and control systems of the EPR under construction at Finland's Olkiluoto site is under way, utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has announced. The unit is expected to start up by 2018.

The government of the Canadian province of Ontario has announced that a CAD 12.8 billion ($9 billion) project to refurbish the four Candu units at Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) Darlington nuclear power station will start in October. The province has also approved the continued operation of OPG's Pickering plant to 2024.

Swedish utility Vattenfall has said that low electricity prices combined with the country's nuclear output tax mean that its power reactors are operating at a loss. It warns of serious consequences to Sweden's electricity supply should it be forced to shut down its remaining reactors early.

Further research is needed to properly assess the performance and reliability of passive safety systems to be used in new nuclear power reactors designs, according to France's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).

Start up of unit 4 at the Ningde nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province moved a step closer with the completion of the loading all 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor's core.

Unit 3 of South Korea's Shin Kori nuclear power plant achieved a sustained chain reaction for the first time on 29 December. It becomes the country's 25th operable power reactor.