UPDATED - The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied Oklo Power's application to build and operate an Aurora compact fast reactor in Idaho, saying gaps in the information supplied by the company mean that the regulator's review of the combined licence application cannot move forward. Oklo can submit a "complete application" in the future and can request a hearing on the NRC decision.

An application to build the containment building of the first new unit at Hungary's Paks II nuclear power plant has been submitted. Project company Atomerőmű Zrt said it should be approved within 150 days. Meanwhile, Hungary's nuclear regulator has assumed a new, more independent, legal status.

Worldwide supplies of molybdenum-99 made without using highly enriched uranium are now sufficient for the USA to ban exports of HEU material for foreign medical isotope production.
 

Protocols to amend two international instruments strengthening the rights to compensation for those affected by nuclear energy accidents have been formally ratified and will enter into force on 1 January.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has undertaken a review of safety and security performance at the Opal research reactor, saying its future plans are "very much anchored on high standards."

Two more rounds of international peer review have taken place at Belarus' Ostrovets nuclear power plant as the power plant's second reactor prepares to start up.

Finland's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment announced it is launching legislative preparations aimed at a comprehensive reform of the country's Nuclear Energy Act. It said the future use of nuclear energy - including new technologies such as small modular reactors - requires "appropriate and up-to-date legislation."

Shikoku Electric Power Company restarted unit 3 of its Ikata nuclear power plant in Japan's Ehime Prefecture yesterday. The reactor - one of the few to have been restarted since the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - had been offline since December 2019 due to a periodic inspection and a subsequent court injunction.

Westinghouse Electric Company and EDF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to produce cobalt-60 in selected pressurised water reactors owned and operated by EDF in France. The agreement is the first step towards production in Europe of the radioisotope for medical uses, the companies said.

EDF has demonstrated commitment to safety at its Belleville nuclear power plant in central France by introducing additional methods to prepare for accident management and using innovative approaches in the training of plant staff, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team also identified areas for further enhancement, for example in operation, maintenance and operating experience.