Work has begun on a major overhaul of a test reactor at the heart of the USA's nuclear energy research infrastructure. This will be the sixth time the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, which began operations in 1967, has undergone the process to enable it to continue its essential function for at least another decade.

The environmental and economic benefits from Pakistan's Karachi nuclear power plant will be "huge" in a country that is particularly vulnerable to climate change, Prime Minister Imran Khan said today as he formally inaugurated the first of two Hualong One units at the site.

Illinois will need to expand its nuclear capacity - not just maintain existing plants - in order to meet climate goals, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has concluded. Keeping the state's existing nuclear plants open at the same time as investing in advanced nuclear technology and renewable energy is the most economical path to zero-carbon that generates the lowest life-cycle carbon emissions, the study has found.

Kansai Electric Power Co has announced plans to restart Mihama unit 3 in June. The unit will return to full operations in July, but Takahama units 1 and 2 will not be able restart until further facilities are completed at those units.

Exelon is not giving up on its Illinois plants, but will go ahead with the closure of Byron and Dresden later this year if the state does not - before the end of its current session - pass policy reforms to support their continued operation, CEO Chris Crane said this week.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved an application by Dominion Energy's Virginia subsidiary for a 20-year extension to the operating licences of the twin-unit Surry nuclear power plant. This will enable the two pressurised water reactors to operate until 2052 and 2053, respectively. 

Most of the nuclear plants in the PJM Interconnection wholesale electricity market - covering 13 US states and the District of Columbia - will not produce enough revenue to remain economically viable in the coming years, an independent economic evaluation has concluded.

Entergy Corporation's Indian Point unit 3 will be shut down tomorrow after nearly 60 years of nuclear power generation at the site in New York state. The closure will bring to an end a world record-breaking run for the pressurised water reactor.

The governor of Japan's Fukui Prefecture today approved the restart of three reactors owned by Kansai Electric Power Company - Takahama units 1 and 2, and Mihama unit 3. His consent was the final approval needed for the reactors - all aged over 40 years old - to resume operation.

The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of the reactor of unit 6 at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province began on 14 April, China National Nuclear Corporation has announced. The domestically-designed ACPR1000 reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation by the end of this year.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has today issued an administrative order to Tokyo Electric Power Company preventing it from transporting nuclear fuel stored at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant or loading it into reactors. The order - issued in response to a series of security breaches at the site - will delay Tepco's planned restart of unit 7 at the plant in Niigata Prefecture.

The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation has today provided EDF with permission for Reactors 3 and 4 at the Hunterston nuclear power plant in North Ayrshire, Scotland to return to service for a limited period of operation. This will be the power station’s final period of operation before moving into the defueling phase.