Bruce Power is conducting checks on 192 staff that could have been affected by a contamination incident in November last year. Chalk River Laboratory has so far carried out 39 large volume bioassays with the results that ten people have shown less than detectable activity (MDA); 20 have more than MDA but less than 10 mSv; six are between 10 and 20 mSv and three are between 20 and 30 mSv. None of these results has taken a worker beyond annual or five-year dose limits. An American lab will soon begin contributing to the work, following approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which expects the move "to double the rate of bioassay testing within a few weeks." Bruce Power is complementing the survey with 'extent-of-condition' tests for workers that may have previously encountered alpha contamination. Alpha contamination was present in corrosion products dislodged during grinding work. 

Jaco Kriek has resigned as CEO of PBMR Pty Ltd. The announcement comes weeks after South African government funding for the development of the pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) was withdrawn, leaving the company facing large-scale restructuring and cuts of 75% to its 800 staff. Kriek, who has been CEO of PBMR Pty for the past six years, will assist with a hand-over process and continue to assist with specific PBMR activities over the next few months. Alex Tsela, the company's current general manager for nuclear compliance assurance, has been appointed as the acting CEO. 

The government of Finland is likely to start discussions on whether to licence the construction of a new nuclear power plant this month, according to reports in the country's media. National broadcaster YLE reported that the four parties in Finland's coalition cabinet have agreed a timetable for its consideration of an expansion of the country's nuclear generating capacity. According to economic affairs minister Mauri Pekkarinen, as there are no legal arguments remaining over the applications for a sixth nuclear plant lodged by Fortum, Fennovoima and TVO, the decision on whether to licence the construction of new reactors, and if so how many, will be a political one. The four political parties in Finland's coalition government have differing views on how many new plants should be licensed, ranging from the Greens, wanting none at all, to the National Coalition Party, which would like all three applications to be given the go-ahead. According to the Finnish media, Pekkarinen has said he plans to bring a government proposal before parliament in March or April, leading up to a parliamentary decision in June. TVO and Fortum have submitted applications to build new plants at their respective existing sites of Olkiluoto and Loviisa, while Fennovoima's application is for a new plant at either Pyhäjoki or Simo in northern Finland. The company withdrew a third possible location, Ruotsinpyhtää, from its application in November 2009.