The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to discontinue its considerations of regulatory and other changes to allow reactor operators to apply for 40-year licence renewals - which could conceivably mean 100-year operating lives. It has however recommended, amongst other things, further evaluations to address the potential for reactor operations up to 100 years.

Taiwan Power Company today announced the permanent closure of unit 1 at its Guosheng nuclear power plant. The 985 MWe boiling water reactor had been scheduled to be decommissioned in late December this year, but a lack of used fuel storage capacity has forced the state-owned company to take the unit offline early in preparation for a major overhaul of the facility.

Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has today been connected to the electricity grid, the China Nuclear Energy Association announced. The 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation later this year.

Duke Energy has filed an application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating licences for the Oconee nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years. The company plans similar operating licence renewals for all 11 reactors it operates, to support its carbon reduction goals.

Exelon has notified transmission organisation PJM Interconnection of its plan to deactivate the two Byron reactors after Illinois lawmakers adjourned without reaching an agreement on clean energy legislation that would have enabled the plants to continue operating. The bill could still pass later this summer.

Preserving the existing fleet of nuclear plants, driving the development of advanced reactors and investing in nuclear R&D are all essential to the USA's clean energy transition, Jennifer Granholm, secretary of the US Department of Energy, stressed this week. Speaking at the annual general meeting of the American Nuclear Society, Granholm told nuclear industry workers and students watching the webinar: "We need you".

Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time. The 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor is expected to be connected to the grid later this year, after which it will enter commercial operation.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has marked four years and more than 100 million safe man-hours without a Lost Time Injury at the Barakah nuclear power plant. ENEC says the milestone sets a new benchmark for industrial safety for nuclear new-build projects around the world.

An increase in the concentration of noble gases in the primary circuit of the Taishan 1 EPR is related to a few damaged fuel rods, China's National Nuclear Safety Administration confirmed today. It said the increase is "a common phenomenon" and is still in accordance with the requirements of the plant's operating technical specifications. Earlier this week, France's Framatome - which designed the EPR - said the unit was experiencing a "performance issue".

One of Europe's largest battery energy storage systems is to be built at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland under a contract signed by Teollisuuden Voima Oyj and Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The 90 MWe system will act as a fast-start backup power source to ensure the stability of the country's energy network in the event of an unplanned shutdown of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR unit, currently being commissioned at the site.

Unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant is operating at full power and there has been no release of radiation at the plant or in the surrounding area, China General Nuclear announced yesterday following media reports of a leak at the plant in China's Guangdong province. France's EDF, which holds a 30% stake in the two-unit plant, said it had been informed of an increase in the concentration of certain noble gases in the EPR reactor's primary circuit.

EDF has decided not to restart the Dungeness B nuclear power plant and instead move it into the defuelling phase with immediate effect. Since September 2018, the plant has been in an extended outage in which EDF has been managing a range of "unique, significant and ongoing" technical challenges that it says are not found at the UK's other six advanced gas-cooled reactor power plants. Although many of these challenges have been overcome, the French-owned company said, new detailed analysis has further highlighted additional station-specific risks within some key components, including parts within the fuel assemblies.