News

Work on the reinforcing of the bed plate of the power unit No 2 reactor building has begun at Kursk NPP-2 ahead of the schedule set by Rosatom State Corporation, the Rosenergoatom subsidiary announced.(read more)

French nuclear power giant EDF has announced the first major concrete pour for the Hinkley Point C construction project in Somerset, England, that is expected to supply Britain with 7 percent of its electricity for 60 years once it is commissioned.(read more)

Oxford University spin-out company First Light Fusion said this week it would collaborate with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in a project designed to create a net gain in energy out of a fusion reaction.(read more)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that it had accepted the application for a subsequent license renewal for the Surry Power Station reactors located near Surry, Virginia.(read more)

Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said last week that the country would issue a tender in January seeking a financial partner that would help revive the twice-stalled Belene nuclear power plant project, according to a Reuters report.(read more)

The Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said that it would begin decommissioning of Unit 1 at the Chinshan nuclear power plant directly following the expiration of its initial 40-year operations permit, which came to an end on December 6.(read more)

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) said this week it had achieved a component milestone by dispatching its 40th steam generator (SG) to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).(read more)

Soaring costs have given Japanese builder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) second thoughts about leading construction of a four-unit 4500MWe nuclear power plant in the Black Sea region of Turkey in the Sinop province.(read more)

Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom said Thursday that the No. 1 reactor on the world's only floating nuclear power plant had been turned on and was running at 10 percent of its capacity.(read more)

Framatome said it had reached an agreement with Bruce Power underscoring an $18.7 million contract "covering a range of innovations and new activities."(read more)

Georgia Power announced today the latest milestones at the Vogtle nuclear expansion near Waynesboro, Georgia – the placement of the third and final ring that comprises the Unit 3 containment vessel, and the placement of the fourth and final reactor coolant pump (RCP) for Unit 3. (read more)

Nuclear Development LLC reacted quickly to the failed closing of the deal to purchase the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Planty in Jackson County, Alabama, filing a lawsuit complaining that the Tennessee Valley Authority sabotaged the deal.(read more)

The long-delayed start up for Unit 3 at Finland’s Olkiluoto NPP, an Areva-Siemens Consortium project, has been pushed back for another four months, the companies announced in a late November tweet.(read more)

South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo said the country would develop a comprehensive decommissioning plan to go along with the phase out of 11 nuclear power plants, which are targeted to close by 2030.(read more)

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) held a ceremony to mark the founding of the Research Center for Nuclear Fuels and Materials, in Beijing, on Nov 27, the company said.(read more)

Centrus Energy Corp. said Thursday it had signed a new services contract with X Energy, LLC to proceed with the preliminary design of a facility to fabricate advanced nuclear fuel. The contract builds upon the companies’ prior contract, signed in March 2018, to complete a conceptual design of the facility.(read more)

The British government said Thursday that the Magnox reactors at the Bradwell Site, in Essex, England, had entered a state known as ‘care and maintenance," which designate a stage in which the defueled power plants are to remain dormant for the next 65 years at rest while covered in a weather-poof cladding. (read more)

SNC-Lavalin and its joint venture partner Eclipse Automation Inc. have landed a $33 million production tooling contract to support Bruce Power’s fuel channel and feeder replacement (FCFR) project, the Canadian-based construction management company said.(read more)

Two RITM-200 reactors have been loaded onto the nuclear powered icebreaker Ural at the Baltic Shipyard, Rosatom announced in November. Employees of the shipyard and of Spetstyazhavtotrans, a Russian carrier of oversized cargo, loaded the reactors onto the second Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker, a first for the slipways. (read more)

Russian nuclear build corporation Rosatom has said the 168 metric ton core catcher body has installed in its permanent position under the reactor pit of Kursk-II Unit 1 in western Russia near the border with Ukraine.(read more)

Holtec International reported Tuesday that it had documented new record lows in curie content and heat load using multi-purpose canisters (MPCs) in HI-STORM vertical ventilated modules at numerous nuclear plant sites for both Pressurized Water reactors and Boiling Water Reactors. (read more)

NuScale Power said Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bruce Power L.P., Canada’s first private nuclear generator, to develop a business case to introduce NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology to the Canadian market.(read more)

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that the country would retreat from its previous energy target of closing down 14 nuclear power plants by 2025 and openly suggested the country would pursue construction of new units to maintain the energy plan’s target of 50 percent electricity derived from nuclear power.(read more)

French utility EDF has reached an agreement with Nawah Energy, manager of the future Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirate, to support operations and maintenance at the plant for 10 years.(read more)

The joint regulators have today announced the commencement of Step 3 of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for the UK HPR1000 nuclear technology, the French utility EDF said before the holiday.(read more)

Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom said Friday that installation of the reactor internals has started at unit 1 of the Belarus nuclear power plant. Local media then reported that the first deputy director general for Operations Management at Rosatom Alexander Lokshin affirmed that the plant was on track for startup in 2019.(read more)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said the Netherlands, which includes one nuclear power plant, has significantly strengthened its regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety since 2014 and particularly by establishing a single independent regulatory body.(read more)

South Carolina Electric & Gas, along with parent company SCANA Corp., on Saturday agreed to a $2 billion settlement of a lawsuit that sought to redress rate hikes that went to pay for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear power plant expansion project, which cost more than $9 billion before it was called off in July 2017.(read more)

Belgiam industrial Sarens has launched what it claims is the largest crane in the world, which will have a future – and a start – tied directly to the nuclear power industry in Europe, the company said.(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that it had published the final supplemental environmental impact statement for renewing the operating license of the Waterford nuclear power plant in Louisiana, concluding there were no environmental issues that would stand in the way of a 20-year license extension for the power plant.(read more)

The Spanish government is closing in on a policy that would phase out nuclear power by not granting license extensions beyond the original 40-year commitment, as the country focuses on a strict diet of renewable power sources.(read more)

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has celebrated the achievement of a historic milestone in the development of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, with the completion of all main concrete works and heavy equipment lifting for the four nuclear reactor units being built in the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi.(read more)

Framatome and Savannah River Remediation (SRR) successfully completed repair work on a high-level waste evaporator (3H) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.(read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last week it had launched a special inspection at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant to determine how and why a diver received a dose rate alarm during underwater work in the Unit 1 equipment pit.(read more)

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Thursday that it has been granted approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the use of the company’s digital safety system controller MELTAC Nplus S in U.S. nuclear power plants(read more)

Nuclear power service and engineering firm Orano said Thursday it had signed a contract for an important volume of business with the JAEA1 (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) regarding the preparation of shipments to France of 731 used fuel assemblies from the Fugen reactor in Japan.(read more)

Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) said this week that it had been selected to supply fuel assemblies to Finland’s utility company Teollisuuden Voima Ojy from 2020 until 2038 – a long commitment for a fuel supply contract.(read more)

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and its PRISM technology have been selected by Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program which seeks to utilize fast neutron spectrum technology to support accelerated development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors, the company said Wednesday.(read more)

Cyclife has signed work orders with Nuclenor, the operator of the Santa Maria de Garona nuclear plant in the Burgos region of Spain. It has also signed a contract to handle metal waste from the Olkiluoot facility in Finland, specifically involving Units 1 and 2. In addition, it has an agreement to remove and treat metal waste from the Sellafield site in Britain(read more)

Restarts of the Doel Unit 1 and 2 pressurized water reactors on track for December, although repairs and inspections on cooling water circuit pipes continues, according to the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (Fanc).(read more)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Tuesday that the agency had completed the fourth review mission of Japan's efforts towards the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) in Japan, noting several key improvements had created stable conditions ad the devastated facility.(read more)

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) on Friday said that the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant refurbishment program had reached a major milestone, as calandria tube installation for Unit 2 at the plant had been completed.(read more)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that the agency had published its supplemental Environmental Impact Statement pertaining to the application concerning a 20-year license extension for the River Bend nuclear power plant in Louisiana(read more)

News that Toshiba Corp. in Japan was backing out of the Moorside nuclear power plant construction project in Cumbria, UK, sparked reactions in Britain and South Korea this week, indicating the project was not dead in the water, despite the major set back.(read more)

The China National Nuclear Corp. and Rosatom’s engineering division Atomstroyexport signed contracts this week calling for construction of two VVER-1200 reactors that would make up Tianwan Units 7 and 8 in the Jiangsu province.(read more)

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday laid the foundation stone for a 100 KW research reactor, construction for which is already underway, according to media reports from the country.(read more)

The Sanmen Unit 2 reactor in the Zhejiang province of China became the third AP1000 reactor to reach commercial operating status this week, achieving the feat on Nov. 5 at 9:47 p.m, according to news sources.(read more)

Oregon-based small modular reactor developer NuScale to announce it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG), Ontario’s public electricity generator, who has agreed to support NuScale in its vendor design review (VDR) with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).(read more)

International engineering company Assystem, which calls itself one of the top three nuclear engineering companies worldwide, announced a major contract Tuesday to support the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of nuclear fusion power.(read more)

Finnish power company Fortum has announced the completion of the automation modernisation project at the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant, bringing to fruition the biggest single project since the construction of the two-unit facility.(read more)