The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has amended three regulations covering nuclear facilities and uranium mines to apply the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident of 2011. The amendments include updates to radiation protection requirements during emergencies, and programs to ensure workers are prepared to respond effectively in emergency situations.

The World Association of Nuclear Operators and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency are to cooperate on "the further development of approaches, practices and methods in order to proactively strengthen global nuclear safety" through a memorandum of understanding signed today at the NEA Headquarters in Paris. The signing ceremony was attended by WANO Chairman Jacques Régaldo and NEA Deputy Director-General and Chief Nuclear Officer Daniel Iracane.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has today approved a draft report that concludes units 6 and 7 of Tokyo Electric Power Company's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant meet the country's new safety standards. The draft document has now been released for public comment and could be formally approved by year-end.

Some of the fuel in the damaged unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant has melted and dropped into the primary containment vessel, initial results from using a muon detection system indicate. Part of the fuel, however, is believed to remain in the reactor pressure vessel.

International cooperation is high in the nuclear industry, but harmonising regulatory processes remains a challenge, delegates heard at the World Nuclear Association's annual symposium held in London recently. In addition, regulatory bodies face new tasks - licensing advanced reactor technologies, enhancing public confidence and assisting newcomer countries.

Positive actions have resulted in more stable supplies of key medical isotopes in 2017 than predicted three years ago, but vulnerabilities remain, a side event at the International Atomic Energy Agency's 61st General Conference in Vienna heard last week.

Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Joint Convention on Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Safety. The convention has contributed to a significant level of safety in the management of used fuel and radioactive waste, said IAEA deputy director general Juan Carlos Lentijo.

Westinghouse Electric Company has signed a contract with Ukrainian national nuclear generator Energoatom to supply monitoring instrumentation systems to the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant, as part of a long-term safety upgrade program.

UPDATED: Two nuclear units at St Lucie were able to continue operating as Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida. One unit at Turkey Point was shut down as a precaution in advance of the storm as nuclear operators and regulators put storm preparation procedures into action, while the other shut down automatically because of a valve-related issue. 

 

China maintains "strong and sustainable" nuclear security activities, an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts has concluded. The Vienna-based agency carried out a ten-day International Physical Protection Advisory Service mission at the Chinese government's request.

The European Commission-funded Shamisen project has published 28 recommendations to improve the preparedness and response to a nuclear accident. The recommendations follow an 18-month review of the response to previous accidents, particularly Chernobyl and Fukushima.

High-enriched uranium has been flown from Ghana back to China in the removal of all such material from the country. The Ghanaian research reactor has been converted to use low-enriched fuel instead.