Industry leaders last week debated how to bridge the gap between the World Nuclear Association's vision of an extra 1000 GWe of new nuclear power capacity by 2050, and the practicalities of working within current political, regulatory and financial environments.

L-3 MAPPS is to supply a severe accident simulator to Westinghouse for an unnamed customer in Tokyo. The contract is L-3 MAPPS' first sale of a plant simulator into the Japanese market.

The nuclear industry has many opportunities to build a sustainable and competent workforce to avoid a future skills shortage, Callum Thomas, CEO of recruitment consultants Thomas Thor Associates told delegates at the World Nuclear Association's Symposium in London.

Although the co-owners of Sweden's Ringhals nuclear power plant -Vattenfall and EOn - have yet to agree on the early closure of units 1 and 2, majority owner Vattenfall has said it will limit investment in those units which will mean they can only operate until 2020.

The loading of fuel has started at unit 1 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant, under construction on China's southern island province of Hainan. The reactor is expected to begin operating later this year.

Full production has resumed at Honeywell's Metropolis uranium conversion plant in Illinois after a uranium hexafluoride leak earlier this month. The leak was caused by over-pressurization of a system that was undergoing maintenance at the time.

Work is under way at the Rovno nuclear power plant in Ukraine to apply to extend the operating life of unit 3. Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate issued 20-year operating life extensions for units 1 and 2 nearly five years ago.

The process to restart unit 1 of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan began today, marking the end of almost two years of the country's entire reactor fleet standing idle. The unit is expected to re-enter commercial operation early next month.

Acceptance tests have been started at unit 3 of Russia's Rostov nuclear power plant, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced yesterday. Successful completion of the tests will mark the end of pilot operation of the reactor and its readiness to be put into commercial operation, the company said.

Unit 2 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province has been connected to the electricity grid. It is expected to enter commercial operation by the end of the year.

The fourth reactor at Russia's Beloyarsk nuclear power plant has for the second time been brought to the minimum controlled power level, moving it a step closer to starting commercial operation.

An agreement in principle has been reached between Electrabel and the Belgian government on the conditions for a ten-year life extension for units 1 and 2 of the Doel nuclear power plant. The tax to be paid by the country's nuclear operators has also been revised.