Three independent Japanese experts are to monitor the collection of marine samples near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The aim is to support the quality assurance of data collection and analysis by Japanese laboratories for radioactivity measurements.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has developed arrangements to help countries respond quickly to protect the public and the environment in the event of an accident involving radioactive materials launched into orbit or travelling in spacecraft.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) plans to establish an association of nuclear energy regulators and organisations that provide scientific and technical support. A draft memorandum on this was approved at the 21st meeting of the CIS commission on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which was held via video link yesterday. The meeting was chaired by the head of the commission, Belarus' Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk.

The lifting of economic sanctions against Iran remains an essential part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) and its signatories are committed to expanding the special purpose vehicle that enables European businesses to maintain trade with the country, according to the European Commission's foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that Rosatom Technical Academy has become the first IAEA Collaborating Centre to extend its work with the Vienna-based agency into three different programmatic areas: nuclear sciences and applications, nuclear security and nuclear energy.

The Chernobyl Shelter Fund has officially been completed after receiving non-objection for closure by the assembly of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The London-headquartered bank set up the CSF in 1997 to assist Ukraine in making the site of the temporary shelter over Chernobyl's destroyed reactor 4 stable and environmentally safe. The New Safe Confinement also aims to create the conditions for the eventual dismantling and decommissioning of the contaminated structure.

Budapest University of Technology and Economics has become the seventh university in the world to offer a programme as part of the International Nuclear Management Academy, which is endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. During a webinar hosted by the IAEA last week, Professor Attila Aszódi, BME programme executive, described the importance of this achievement.

Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority yesterday approved safety measures submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Company for unit 7 of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture. The approval brings the unit one step closer to restart, pending local consent.

A new EU-funded Horizon 2020 project has been launched that aims to propose innovative enhancements in the way combustible gases are managed in event of a severe accident at an operational nuclear power plant. The four-year AMHYCO project is being led by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is unlikely to be improved or replaced before the US president is sworn in early next year, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday. Raab was responding to questions from the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee in a session held to discuss the work of the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority today approved Shikoku Electric Power Company's decommissioning plan for unit 2 of its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime prefecture. Decommissioning of the unit is expected to be completed by 2059.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has sent proposals for three new regulations for formal consultation. The proposed regulations concern the design, analysis and operation of nuclear power reactors and are intended to take effect on 1 January 2022.