A regulatory investigation team has pointed at "faulty computer modelling" and "manufacturing issues" as contributing factors to the rapid deterioration of steam generator tubing at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). 

 

Data has been released on tube wear in the steam generators at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Plant owner Southern California Edison has still to determine when the two reactors there will be restarted.

The faults of every player in last year's Fukushima crisis have been laid out by a parliamentary commission. No organisation was singled-out as responsible - but rather Japanese culture itself. For the continuation of nuclear power in the country, regulation must go through an "essential transformation process."

French authorities have laid out the improvements they want to see from the country's nuclear operators to ensure safety in case of extreme natural disasters like those that led to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

A report for EDF Energy has put some figures on the benefits to the UK economy that could flow from the company's plans for new nuclear power plants.

Fossil fuels now provide some 90% of Japan's electricity as nuclear plants remain shut down. Consumption of crude and heavy oil for electricity is at a four-year high.

A group of students from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has completed the first stage of training to become qualified operators for the country's new fleet of nuclear power reactors.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has agreed to extend the operating licence of the single-unit Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Massachusetts for a further 20 years. Meanwhile, the expected completion of the NRC's review of Progress Energy's combined construction and operating licence application (COLA) for its Levy plant in Florida has been revised.

The operating licence for Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station in Washington state has been extended for a further 20 years by the US nuclear regulator.

The long-awaited return to service of the refurbished unit 2 of the Bruce A nuclear power plant in Ontario, Canada, has been delayed due to damage in an electrical generator on the non-nuclear side of the plant.

Westinghouse subsidiary PaR Nuclear has agreed to form a joint venture with China's Taiyuan Heavy Machinery to produce cranes and fuel handling equipment for Chinese nuclear power plants, particularly those based on the AP1000 reactor.