Completion of Japan's Rokkasho reprocessing plant and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel factory have been postponed by around two years as work continues to comply with new safety requirements.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) program to analyse earthquake risk at US nuclear plants will be completed sooner than planned after the regulator found that in-depth studies are needed at fewer plants than originally thought.

Unit 2 of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture was restarted today, plant owner Kyushu Electric Power Company announced. It becomes the second Japanese reactor to resume operation after the country idled its entire fleet following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Work to upgrade the Temelín nuclear power plant in line with European Union stress tests is to be completed by the end of this year, the plant's director, Bohdan Zronek, said yesterday. Czech utility ČEZ published Zronek's comments that were made to local media to mark the 15th anniversary of the plant.

The restart of units 3 and 4 of Kansai Electric Power Company's Takahama nuclear power plant moved a step closer today with Japan's nuclear regulator confirming the units meet new safety requirements.

Switzerland's Council of States has agreed to avoid putting legal limits on the operating lives of the country's nuclear power reactors. It has also rejected a proposal that was supported by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI), of requiring operators to submit a long-term operating concept every 10 years once a reactor reaches 40 years of service.

Japan considered its nuclear power plants safe and was therefore not prepared for the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, International Atomic Energy Agency director general Yukiya Amano has said in a comprehensive report on the accident.

A Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission study has concluded that there would be no detectable increase in cancer risk for most of the population from radiation released in a hypothetical severe nuclear accident.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has announced a restructuring of the company which will see its nuclear and decommissioning operations remaining under a new holding company, while its non-nuclear businesses will be spun off into three subsidiaries.

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.

Japan's nuclear regulator has given Shikoku Electric Power Company permission to make changes to the reactor installation of unit 3 of its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime prefecture. It marks the first of three regulatory approvals required for restarting the unit.

The accident at Fukushima Daiichi led to improvements in equipment at plants around the world. Equally important to the process of improving nuclear safety is the emphasis placed on implementing quality improvements to the 'human' side of nuclear safety, writes William Magwood.