Greater efficiency in Russian nuclear power plant maintenance outages saved nearly 180 days last year and enabled 2.9 terawatt hours more electricity to be produced than would otherwise have been possible, Rosenergoatom said yesterday. This amount of electricity is enough to meet the energy demand of, for example, the Smolensk or Tver regions for six months, the company said.

The Solicitor General of Ontario has apologised for the public alert issued in error by Ontario's Provincial Emergency Operations Centre during a routine training exercise yesterday. An investigation will be held to find the cause of the error, which meant residents were notified that an incident had taken place at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station when none had. The false alert was sent about 7:25am local time and PEOC retracted it at about 9:11 am.

Global nuclear generating capacity stood at 392.4 GWe net at the end of 2019, down slightly on 2018, according to data from World Nuclear Association. Six power reactors were added to the grid last year and construction of three large reactor projects started, while nine units were permanently shut down.

Unit 2 of Germany's Philippsburg nuclear power plant was disconnected from the grid at 6.55pm on 31 December, as planned, marking the end of 35 years of operation. Operator EnBW said it will begin dismantling the unit in the second half of this year.

Unit 2 of the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden was yesterday permanently shut down, ending 44 years of operation and 215 TWh of generation. Ringhals 1 is scheduled to shut down next year.

Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has issued operating licence extensions to two more nuclear power units, bringing the total number to 27 since 2001. Unit 2 of Bilibino NPP and unit 4 of Novovoronezh NPP are now licensed to operate until the end of 2025 and 2032, respectively, which is six and 13 years longer than their previous licences.

Ukraine has this week held public hearings on plans to extend by 15 years the operation of unit 3 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, which entered commercial operation in 1989. Another topic for discussion is the fact the unit's reactor core is fully loaded with Westinghouse fuel, and the country's nuclear regulator, SNRC, told participants in the hearings it expected to approve commercial operation using this fuel by the turn of the year.

The loading of fuel into the core of the Olkiluoto 3 has been delayed until June next year because of the slow progress of system tests and shortcomings in spare part deliveries, the Areva-Siemens consortium has informed Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj. Grid connection of the EPR is now scheduled for November, with the start of regular electricity production expected in March 2021.

The floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov was today connected to the grid, generating electricity for the first time in the remote Chaun-Bilibino network in Pevek, in Russia’s Far East. The achievement followed Russian regulator Rostekhnadzor's provision of an operating licence, as well as permission to connect to the northern electricity grid maintained by Chukotenergo JSC. Connecting the plant to Pevek's heat networks will be completed next year.

Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has issued a 15-year operating licence extension for unit 3 of the Smolensk nuclear power plant, the last of three RBMK-1000 reactors at the site in western Russia. The move means the whole plant has permission to operate for a total of 45 years.

Slovenske Elektrarne, the owner and operator of unit 3 of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in Slovakia, has shown a commitment to safety, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team also identified areas for further enhancements at the 471 MWe VVER unit, which is due to start up next year.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Florida Power & Light's application for a 20-year subsequent licence extension for Turkey Point units 3 and 4, the first time the regulator has issued licences authorising reactors to operate for up to 80 years.