News

Nuclear waste solutions company Deep Isolation, Inc. and construction giant Bechtel National, Inc., part of the largest engineering and construction company in the U.S., have announced a cooperative agreement on sales, product development, and the deployment of Deep Isolation’s patented technology.(read more)

GE Steam Power said this week that Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN) has selected the company to continue providing full maintenance services on two of its turbine islands at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania.(read more)

The world’s second European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), also called the Evolutionary Power Reactor, has been connected to the grid in China, the project owners announced on Friday.(read more)

GE Steam Power and AAEM Turbine technology LLC, a joint venture between AtomEnergoMash JSC (AEM) and General Electric (GE) said Thursday that manufacturing had begun in Belfort, France, on the Arabelle steam turbines to be used at Akkuyu in Turkey, the site of the country's first nuclear power plant.(read more)

Indiana Michigan Power has filed for permission to initiate a $478 million infrastructure improvement plan for the Cook Nuclear Plant in southwestern Michigan and is asking for a substantial rate hike to cover the costs.(read more)

Sweden’s nuclear power regulator on Monday granted 10-year operating license extension for Units 1 and 2 at the Forsmark nuclear power plant, which will push the potential operating life of the plant to 50 years.(read more)

The liquid release over the open reactor has been successfully completed at the innovative 2nd VVER-1200 power block of the Leningrad NPP-2, Rosenergoatom, a division of state-controlled Rosatom said.(read more)

Rosatom engineering division ASE Group said that concrete work at the Kursk II – Unit 2 construction project was now 72 days ahead of schedule, having been completed on 17 June.(read more)

Framatome recently launched a suite of new protective coatings approved for use in power plant applications that are expected to reduce maintenance costs and extend the operating life of components and equipment across the energy sector, including in nuclear power plants, the company said.(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its Final Safety Evaluation Report for an Early Site Permit application from Tennessee Valley Authority for the Clinch River Nuclear Site, finding no safety aspects that would prevent the project from going forward.(read more)

Britain’s Wood Group has announced another contractual agreement signed to provide engineering and technical services to Hinkley Point C, the first nuclear power station to be build in the United Kingdom in 20 years.(read more)

Southern California Edison today awarded a consulting contract to North Wind, Inc., to develop a strategic plan that will assess the feasibility of relocating spent nuclear fuel at the San Onofre nuclear plant to a commercially reasonable, off-site facility.(read more)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said Armenia has made progress in strengthening its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety but still faces challenges, including a shortage of qualified and experienced staff at the regulatory body.(read more)

In an extensive interview with Neutron Bytes, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of NuScale Power Jose N. Reyes laid out the timeline for the first modular reactor power plant, which is expected to be up and running in 2027.(read more)

With no plans to retreat from nuclear power, the Finish government said last week that it was on the way to becoming the world’s first “fossil-free prosperous society,” reaffirming its climate change targets.(read more)

Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom announced late last week it has signed contracts, along with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), for construction of two VVER-1200, Generation 3 plus reactors specified for the Xudabao site in North East China.(read more)

Rosatom operating division Rosenergoatom said Tuesday that Novovoronezh-II Unit 2 has been brought up to 50 percent power as the first of four pre-commissioning testing levels known as pilot operations.(read more)

After the International Energy Agency in May issued a report decrying the weak support for nuclear power, a few notable voices, including two prominent Op-ed articles this week, have taken Germany to task for their retreat from nuclear power.(read more)

Entergy Nuclear shut down the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for the final time on Friday, dropping the number of operating nuclear plants in the United States to 97. (read more)

A late-March announcement that tagged Motlex Energy as the preferred vendor for Fermi Energia’s goals of reducing carbon emissions with Moltex advanced reactors was slightly misleading, the company’s Chairman of the Board Sandor Liive said.(read more)

Framatome said Wednesday it had received a voucher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program (GAIN) to support development of Lightbridge Fuel in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL).(read more)

Duke Energy said Thursday that it planned to decommission the previously retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida by 2027, jumping ahead on the previously announced schedule by close to 50 years.(read more)

Electricite de France (EDF) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy said that the Taishan Unit 2 reactor had achieved first criticality, the second European Pressurized Reactor to do so.(read more)

Arguably the world’s most respected energy authority, the International Energy Agency, said Tuesday that the aging of nuclear power fleets in Europe and the United States threatened to derail global climate change goals and upend energy security.(read more)

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)said it had submitted its BWRX-300 small modular reactor design for a Vendor Design Review with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). (read more)

Russia on Saturday launched an enormous new nuclear powered ice breaker, named the Ural, from its shipyard in St. Petersburg, hoping to take advantage of global warming with regards to expanded Arctic shipping and oil exploration.(read more)

Russia and Vietnam have expanded their collaborative arrangements for cooperation on nuclear technology, signing a memorandum of understanding that covers development of a science center to be built in Vietnam.(read more)

South Korea’s nuclear power regulator the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) said it would expand the investigation into a Hanbit power plant incident earlier this month in which the reactor was allowed to run after breaching security parameters.(read more)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week that spent fuel transfers could resume at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Clemente, California.(read more)

--Press Release--Radium Incorporated (Radium) announced today that it has been issued a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a new type of transparent radiation shield. Branded as ClearView Radiation Shieldingâ„¢, the proprietary shielding solution is 50% lighter in weight than lead (Pb) for an equivalent attenuation from high energy gammas and shields significantly better than lead glass.(read more)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts completed a review of long term operational safety at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Unit 1 in China on 10 May, the agency said.(read more)

UzAtom, the nuclear development agency of Uzbekistan, has signed stage two agreements for construction of a two-unit nuclear power plant with Russian representatives of Atomstroyexport, the engineering division of Rosatom.(read more)

A United Nations inspection team said that Electricite de France, operator of the Golfech Nuclear Power Plant, had made significant improvements to enhance operational safety at the plant since a prior inspection three years ago.(read more)

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said Monday that Unit 1 reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station in the Surat district of Gujarat ha reached criticality three months ahead of schedule after a lengthy renovation and modernization program.(read more)

U.S.-based small modular reactor developer NuScale Power and fuel-development company Enfission, announced Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the use of next generation nuclear fuel technology in NuScale’s small modular reactors.(read more)

Wisconsin-based SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc., announced May 9 that the company had launched into construction of their first medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin with a ground-breaking ceremony.(read more)

Several Chinese companies, notably Dongfang Electric Corporation and China State Construction and Engineering Corporation, have expressed interest in building a second nuclear power plant for Bangladesh, the country’s nuclear power regulator said.(read more)

French nuclear regulator ASN (Autorite de surete nucleaire) said that it was investigating potential fraud cases as a wider reach to the documentation scandal at Areva's Creusot Forge that began with the discovery of irregularities in pressure vessel steel found at the Flamanville Unit 3 construction project in Normandy in April 2015.(read more)

Exelon Generation confirmed this week that it would be closing down Three Mile Island Generating Station’s Unit 1 (TMI 1) reactor 15 years ahead of schedule due to the lack of support from the state in an era of strong economic headwinds for nuclear power.(read more)

Romanian nuclear power plant operator Nuclearelectrica said Wednesday that it had signed a preliminary investors agreement with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) for the development of two new units at the Cernavoda NPP.(read more)

Framatome said it had signed a contract to deliver two full fuel assemblies using the company’s industry-leading Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) solution to Exelon Generation’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant with delivery expected in February 2021.(read more)

China National Nuclear Corporation said that cold hydrostatic testing was initiated at the end of April for Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 5, the first of two HPR1000 reactor under construction at the site.(read more)

Salt Lake City, Utah-based EnergySolutions, Inc. said last week it had signed a contract with the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) to decommission the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station.(read more)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had issued a direct final rule to certify the Korean-designed APR1400 reactor, which will become effective 120 after it appears in the Federal Register.(read more)

Scaled-down nuclear reactor developer NuScale said Tuesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s industrial giant Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. (DHIC) to form a strategic alliance to support development of the U.S. company’s small nuclear reactor.(read more)

Workers at the Hanford Site in southeast Washington have completed the filling a second waste storage tunnel with engineered grout, significantly reducing the risk of a collapse and possible release of radioactive materials, the Department of Energy said on Monday.(read more)

Framatome of France announced on Tuesday that it had been awarded a contract to modernize the reactor protection system at the Gosgen Nuclear Power Plant operated by the Swiss utility Kernkraftwerk Gosgen-Daniken AG. The reactor protection system powers down the reactor in the case of any operations deviations.(read more)

After 72 hours of testing, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declared the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site to be completed.(read more)

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans to provide $7.5 million for new research on nuclear data. The aim, the department said, is to expand and improve the quality of data needed for a wide range of nuclear-related activities from basic research in nuclear science, to isotope production, nonproliferation efforts, and nuclear power generation.(read more)

Rosatom operations subsidiary Rosenergoatom said that the twin KLT-40 icebreaker reactors on the floating power station Akademik Lomonosov had passed comprehensive pre-licensing tests and would be issued operating license in July.(read more)