National nuclear safety regulators will have more independence and a new peer-review system under an amended EU Nuclear Safety Directive which was approved today.

Japan's ongoing reliance on imported fossil fuels while its nuclear reactors await permission to restart continues to impact on the country's greenhouse gas emissions and trade deficit.

The first of America's regional response centres is now in operation, ready to supply equipment to any of the country's nuclear power plants facing an emergency situation.

A district court in Japan has ordered Kansai Electric Power Company not to restart two units at its Ohi nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture due to public concerns. Kansai said it will appeal the ruling.

Japan Atomic Power Company has requested a safety review of unit 2 at its Tokai plant in Ibaraki prefecture. It becomes the eighteenth Japanese reactor to seek permission to restart.

A national team is being assembled to respond to nuclear emergencies in an effort to reinforce China's preparedness. The group will supplement existing provincial and on-site response teams.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has drawn up a list of 21 reactor sites in central and eastern USA that must carry out in-depth analyses of updated earthquake risks as a matter of priority. The regulator says that all are considered safe for continued operation in the meantime.

One month after being put in charge of decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi, Naohiro Masuda talked to World Nuclear News about his priorities for the site and its workforce.

Two Japanese regional power companies have secured capital support totalling ¥150 billion ($1.46 billion) from the state-owned Development Bank of Japan. The move comes as they announced losses for the third consecutive year, while all of Japan's nuclear power reactors remain offline awaiting restart.

Germany should immediately refund some €2.2 billion in nuclear fuel taxes collected from EOn and RWE, pending final decisions on the tax from either the Federal Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice.

Three years after the Fukushima accident, which led to calls for Japan to phase-out nuclear power, the country's cabinet has given its approval to an energy policy that recommends the restart of its idled nuclear reactors.