EPZ, operator of the Borssele nuclear power plant, has called for an extension to its operation beyond 2033 and/or the construction of two new large reactors at the site in order to help the Netherlands meet its energy and climate goals. The company's director, Carlo Wolters, presented EPZ's vision yesterday at a parliamentary debate on the role of nuclear power in the Dutch energy system.

Lithuania has strengthened its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety in recent years, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service team yesterday completed a 17-day virtual follow-up mission to review the country's implementation of recommendations and suggestions made during an initial IRRS mission in 2016.

The process of loading a total of 177 fuel assemblies into the core of the Karachi 2 reactor in Pakistan began on 28 November, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today. The Chinese-designed Hualong One reactor is scheduled for commercial operation next year.

Ontario Power Generation has completed the defuelling of Darlington unit 3 ahead of schedule. It is the second of four units at the site that are being refurbished in a 10-year project that will enable the plant to continue operations until 2055. OPG and its project partner CanAtom Power Group - a joint venture of SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Inc and Aecon Construction Group - have now begun to prepare unit 3 for disassembly.

Tests that simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation have started at unit 6 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province. The ACPR1000 reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation by the end of 2021.

Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of French utility Engie - says it will not make any further investments at Doel unit 4 and Tihange unit 3 unless it is clearer whether the reactors will or will not be allowed to operate beyond 2025. A report due out at the end of next year may lead to the reactors being allowed to continue operating to ensure Belgium's energy security.

Kyushu Electric Power Company has restarted unit 1 of its Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture having completed construction of a bunkered back-up control centre as required under revised safety regulations. The 890 MWe pressurised water reactor is the first unit to resume operation in the country after building such a facility.

Tohoku Electric Power Company today received approval from Murai Yoshihiro, the governor of Miyagi Prefecture, to restart unit 2 of its Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture. The utility aims to restart the 796 MWe boiling water reactor in fiscal 2022 at the earliest.

Unit 1 of the first nuclear power plant to be built in Belarus has been connected to the grid and is supplying electricity, Rosatom announced today. The Russian state nuclear corporation describes the VVER-1200 design, of which the Ostrovets unit is the first to be built outside Russia, as "the backbone" of its export portfolio that comprises 36 units across 12 markets.

Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) today approved the operational safety programme submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for its seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Tepco is working towards restarting units 6 and 7 at the site in Niigata prefecture.

Unit 2 of the Leningrad II nuclear power plant in Sosnovy Bor, in Western Russia, was connected to the national grid today for the first time. Following this trial operation, the unit will be shut down for an additional equipment inspection by a state commission, Rosatom said, before being put into commercial operation, which is scheduled for 2021. The new unit will replace Leningrad unit 2, which is an RBMK-1000 reactor.

Unit 5 at the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time yesterday, China National Nuclear Corporation has announced. The unit - the first of two demonstration Hualong One reactors at the site - is scheduled to begin commercial operation by the end of this year, with unit 6 following by the end of next year. Unit 5 will be the world's first Hualong One reactor to be commissioned.