The UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation has said it is satisfied that EDF Energy is taking "appropriate and conservative action in the interests of continued nuclear safety" in its decision to shut down its reactors at the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool sites in response to the identification of unexpected "cracking" in a boiler spine of unit 1 at Heysham 1.

The fifth unit at India's Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) has operated continuously for more than 740 days. Only one other reactor - Canada's Pickering 7 - has operated for a longer continuous period.

Hokuriku Electric Power Company has applied for a safety review of unit 2 of its Shika plant. It becomes the twentieth Japanese reactor to seek permission to restart.

Belgian nuclear safety regulators think it was probably deliberate action by a worker that caused lubricant to be lost from Doel 4's steam turbine system. The plant shut down automatically.

EDF Energy says it has shut down four of its UK reactors after discovering a fault in a "boiler spine" in unit 1 of its Heysham 1 nuclear power plant - "although routine inspections of other boiler spines have not previously indicated any similar defects."

Pre-operational tests have been successfully completed at unit 1 of the Lungmen nuclear power plant in Taiwan. However, start-up of the reactor has been delayed until a national referendum, not expected for up to another three years.

The operator of Spain's Garoña nuclear power plant, Nuclenor, has until the end of September to provide a schedule to meet a series of requirements set by the country's nuclear regulator for its restart.

The Canadian nuclear regulator has approved a one-year extension to the operating licence of the Darlington nuclear power plant. This will allow extra time for preparation of information by Ontario Power Generation in support of its application for a licence extension to 2028.

Duke Energy Progress will assume full ownership of the Brunswick and Shearon Harris nuclear power plants as part of a $1.2 billion agreement to buy certain generating assets from North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency.

Thales Group has secured a ten-year, £30 million ($51 million) contract to provide long-term support for computerised control systems at seven of EDF Energy's UK nuclear power plants.

The prompt restart of Japan's nuclear power reactors would have "big advantages" for the country's economy and environment, according estimates by the Institute of Energy Economics of Japan.

Unit 1 of the Fuqing plant in China's Fujian province has moved closer to commissioning by achieving a sustained chain reaction.