The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed what it says is the world's first "uranium rechargeable battery" and that tests have verified its performance in charging and discharging. Meanwhile, South Korean researchers have developed a prototype betavoltaic battery powered by the carbon-14 isotope.

Japanese utility Chubu Electric Power Company announced it has removed the upper lid of the pressure vessel of unit 2 at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture as it begins to dismantle the reactor. It becomes the first commercial power reactor in Japan to enter dismantling.

Tests carried out on high burnup fast reactor fuel as part of a collaboration between the USA and Japan are the first of their kind carried out in more than 20 years, and will provide crucial new data to support future fuel development and qualification.

Japan's Fukushima Institute for Research, Education and Innovation and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority have signed a memorandum of cooperation on joint research in robotics and autonomous systems, including applications in nuclear decommissioning.

During his latest trip to Japan, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi assisted in collecting seawater samples near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for analysis.

Japan is to "make maximum use of nuclear power", with about 20% of the country's total electricity generation in fiscal 2040 coming from nuclear, according to the government's latest Basic Energy Plan. Previous plans have called for a reduction on its dependence on nuclear power.

Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies has announced that a total of 400 tonnes of used nuclear fuel, instead of the originally planned 200 tonnes, will now be transported to Orano in France for research on the reprocessing of used mixed oxide fuel.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced plans to start dismantling treated water tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site, primarily to clear space needed to store nuclear fuel debris to be extracted from the damaged reactors.

An agreement has been concluded to renew the Generation IV International Forum, which aims to build on its first 25 years of sharing research and development on innovative nuclear reactor designs, as William D Magwood IV, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, explains.