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.

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.

The prime ministers of France and Japan attended high-level talks in Tokyo on enhancing nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The talks included cooperation in nuclear safety and research on decommissioning nuclear facilities.

The final roof panel of the temporary cover over the damaged reactor building of unit 1 at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been removed. The walls of the structure remain around the reactor building.

A cooperation agreement has been signed between Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to promote the exchange of information and experience in decommissioning nuclear facilities.

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.

Several international cooperation agreements related to nuclear safety and regulation have been signed this week on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna.

The evacuation order has been lifted for the town of Naraha in Fukushima prefecture, allowing residents to permanently return to their homes there. Naraha, located within 20 kilometres of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is the first of seven municipalities that were fully evacuated to have its order removed.

The flow of groundwater into the reactor buildings and port area of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan should be significantly reduced with the start of use of a new system to pump, treat, test and discharge the water.

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.

Radiation levels have reduced to the point that full-face masks are not needed for 90% of the Fukushima Daiichi site but worker safety remains a high priority following a fatal accident this month.

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.