The operating licence for the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant in Kansas has been renewed for a further 20 years by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The plant's operator, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp (WCNOC), submitted its licence renewal application in September 2006. The NRC's environmental review for the licence renewal concluded that there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the licence for environmental reasons. After reviewing the plant's safety systems and specifications, the NRC also concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude licence renewal. With the renewal, the licence is extended until 11 March 2045. Wolf Creek is a single unit plant, with an 1135 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR), which began operating in 1985. The Wolf Creek licence renewal brings the total number of US renewals to 49 reactors.

Electricité de France (EdF) has held its second auction of power to so-called alternative suppliers to help develop competition in the small business and residential customers market. Ten companies took part in the auction of 500 MW of electricity, with seven of them successfully bidding for baseload supply contracts covering a period up to 15 years. EdF has been conducting quarterly auctions of supply since 2001, but following a formal complaint alleging that the company had abused its dominant market position, France's Competition Council ruled in December 2007 that EdF must auction 1500 MW of electricity to alternative suppliers at prices enabling them to compete effectively with the deregulated mass market. The first such auction was held in March 2008, and the next one is due to be held in the second half of 2009.

[Media Line, 18 November] An agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy has been signed between Algeria and Argentina, the Al-Khabar newspaper reported. The president of Argentina, Cristina de Kirchner, signed several bilateral cooperation agreements during a visit to Algeria, part of a tour of North Africa. During her trip to Algeria, de Kirchner visited the research reactor in Draria, which was constructed by Argentinean companies. The nuclear cooperation agreement "aims at renewing and strengthening our bilateral relations in the realm of civil nuclear research," Algeria's energy minister Chakib Khalil told reporters after the signing ceremony. He said that Algeria was aiming to sign similar agreements with Russia, China and South Africa. The cooperation agreement with Argentina comes five months after France and Algeria signed a cooperation agreement on nuclear energy.