Xcel Energy, owner of the Prairie Island nuclear power plant, has made a last minute submission advising against uprating the plant as it has realised a new fuel allows them to push their operating cycle out from 18 to 24 months.

Chugoku Electric Power Co requested an extension to its licence for carrying out groundwork at the site of its planned Kaminoseki nuclear power plant in Yamaguchi prefecture. Although rejected, the move suggests the company still hopes to move forward with the project, despite the Japanese government recently saying that no new nuclear power plant construction projects would be approved.

Nuclear safety regulators have approved International Isotopes' plans to deconvert depleted uranium hexafluoride tails and go on to sell fluorine gases and other chemical by-products.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the first ever construction and operation licence for a full scale laser enrichment facility – opening the door to commercialisation of this new nuclear technology.

A huge power uprate of 149 MWe at unit 2 of Florida Power & Light's St Lucie nuclear power plant has been approved by the US nuclear regulator. It is part of a $3 billion project to boost nuclear output that will save $3.8 billion in fossil fuel costs.

Japan has confirmed a goal of ending nuclear power generation in the 2030s. The new strategy is based on respect for the will of the Japanese people, but slashes environmental targets to perhaps as little as a 10% reduction in CO2 by 2030.

Spain's Garoña nuclear power plant looks set to close in July 2013 after Nuclenor missed the deadline to submit an operating licence renewal application. The company said that the government had failed to inform it of how pending energy reforms would affect the plant's economic feasibility.

Approval of four new reactors could be delayed by as the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reconsiders its confidence in long term waste management arrangements over the next 24 months.

Unistar Nuclear Energy is ineligible to obtain a licence to construct a new nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs as it remains wholly-owned by a foreign corporation, a licensing board of the US nuclear regulator has ruled. Owner EDF of France has been given 60 days to show progress in its search for a US partner for the project.

Canadian nuclear regulators have issued a site preparation licence for proposed new reactors at the Darlington site in Ontario. It is the first such licence to be issued in Canada in a quarter of a century.

Industry is ready and money could be available to set up an interim store for US used nuclear fuel according to a report by the Brattle Group which points out the advantages of dry storage and the costs of further political delay.

The UK's last operating Magnox reactor, Wylfa 1, will be able to continue generating electricity until September 2014 after regulatory approval was given for the transfer of partially-used fuel from its shut down sister unit.