The production of a replica part of the reactor pressure vessel used in unit 1 of Switzerland's Beznau nuclear power plant has shown that aluminium oxide inclusions in the vessel formed during its manufacture, utility Axpo said. The unit has been offline for more than a year whilst the safety of its vessel is investigated.

Additional documentation on the engineering feasibility of a deep repository has been submitted by Switzerland's national radioactive waste disposal cooperative Nagra. It claims there are no safety advantages to constructing a deeper repository than originally envisaged.

Proving the integrity of the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of Switzerland's Beznau nuclear power plant is taking longer than originally expected, owner Axpo said. It now expects to be given regulatory approval to restart the unit by the end of this year.

The Mühleberg nuclear power plant will stop generating electricity on 20 December 2019, utility BKW recently informed the Swiss nuclear safety regulator. Decommissioning of the plant is expected to start in September 2020, the company said.

The Swiss nuclear safety regulator has said it is satisfied with the plans set out by the Paul Scherrer Institute for decommissioning the Proteus research reactor. The reactor was primarily used for neutron physics experiments with different nuclear fuels.

Two Swiss expert groups have today released reports supporting the repository siting proposals put forward by the country's national radioactive waste disposal cooperative Nagra. However, they call for further investigations to be carried out in the Nördlich Lägern region.

Swiss utility BKW has initiated the process for decommissioning the Mühleberg nuclear power plant by submitting an application to the government. The plant is due to shut down by the end of 2019.

The Swiss nuclear safety regulator has reaffirmed the measures that must be taken by utility BKW in order for its Mühleberg nuclear power plant to continue operating until 2019.

Swiss utility Axpo has submitted a road map to the country's nuclear regulator for further investigations of flaw indications in the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of the Beznau plant. The company does not now expect the unit to restart until at least August 2016.

Switzerland's Council of States has agreed to avoid putting legal limits on the operating lives of the country's nuclear power reactors. It has also rejected a proposal that was supported by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI), of requiring operators to submit a long-term operating concept every 10 years once a reactor reaches 40 years of service.

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 return of US-origin highly-enriched uranium (HEU) from the University of Basel to the USA marks the removal of all HEU in the country.