New Jersey legislators have filed an amended version of a bill that would recognise the environmental and fuel diversity attributes of the state's nuclear power plants after a previous version stalled at the end of the last legislative session. Meanwhile, the state is taking steps to underline its commitment to the goals of the Paris climate change agreement.

US industry groups have submitted a white paper setting out recommendations on how the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission can streamline licensing of advanced reactors. Meanwhile, the US Nuclear Energy Institute has hailed an NRC decision that a voluntary industry initiative can effectively address an electrical system vulnerability as a "win" for regulatory streamlining.

This may be a "watershed" year for the US nuclear industry, which must maintain a strong domestic sector by keeping its reactors operating but must also demonstrate it can build new plants, while paving the way for advanced reactors, the Nuclear Energy Institute's John Kotek told the US Energy Association's State of the Energy Forum on 18 January.

France's Framatome has signed an asset purchase agreement with Schneider Electric to acquire its nuclear instrumentation and control (I&C) business. The asset purchase agreement outlines the terms of the sale, which is expected to close by the end of March.

Toshiba Corporation is to sell its claims against Westinghouse Electric Company and Brookfield - which is buying the Westinghouse-related shares that it holds - to Nucleus Acquisition. The Japanese company said it has entered into an assignment and purchase agreement with Nucleus and a share purchase agreement with Brookfield.

Mining operations have resumed after a four-year break at the US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. A continuous mining machine has begun cutting into panel 8 in the underground salt formation, work that was halted following separate underground events in early 2014.

Rolls-Royce is to provide PSEG with innovative digital analytics systems to drive greater plant efficiency at the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants. The signature of a four-year contract to deploy Rolls-Royce's T-104 service follows a successful six-month trial.

The USA's two main uranium producers yesterday filed a petition with the US Department of Commerce seeking an investigation into the effects of uranium imports on US national security. Energy Fuels Inc and Ur-Energy are calling for a limit to imports that would reserve 25% of the US nuclear market for domestic uranium production.

Toshiba has completed the early payment of $1.86 billion, reflecting the remaining outstanding amount of its parent company guarantee obligation to the owners of the VC Summer AP1000 project in the USA. It settled its parent company guarantee obligation to the owners of the Vogtle project last month.

The Californian Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved Pacific Gas & Electric's request to retire the state's only operating nuclear capacity - the two-unit Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant - by 2025.

A newly installed melter at the Defense Waste Processing Facility at the US Department of Energy's Savannah River site has poured its first canisters of vitrified radioactive waste.

The US nuclear regulator is satisfied that NuScale Power's small modular reactor (SMR) design can operate safely without the need for safety-related electrical systems. The reactor uses passive safety features, such as relying on convection, not pumps, to circulate water in the primary circuit.