News

A partnership between AEMCO and Orano has won a $13.25 million contract from the CEA for the turnkey supply and operation of a processing and packaging unit for legacy nuclear fuels at the Cadarache site in Bouches-du-Rhone, France, the companies announced.(read more)

French utility EDF in late September announced progress at the Hinkley Point C construction project, including a successfully delivered J-O, the completion of the nuclear island “common raft” for the first unit, in line with the schedule announced in September 2016. However, the company has also conceded that cost estimates have risen for both Hinkley Point C and the Flamanville 3 project.(read more)

The Societa Gestione Impianti Nucleari SpA (Sogin) has taken possession of the Ispra-1 research reactor for decommissioning and dismantling, signed over by the Ispra Joint Research Center, Sogin announced.(read more)

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) said last week it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fermi Energia of Estonia to study the feasibility of deploying the GEH BWRX-300 small modular reactor in the Baltic nation.(read more)

Following competitive global tender campaigns managed by ITER's Procurement & Contracts Division, two contracts for Tokamak machine assembly—TAC1 and TAC2—have been awarded and signed, said the consortium managing the fusion reactor project.(read more)

The contract to supply core instrumentation and control systems for the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant in Finland has been awarded to a Framatome of France and Seimens of Germany in a compartmentalized contract, according to the plant’s owner.(read more)

French utility Electricite de France (EDF) said Sunday it had submitted an application to regulators and to the energy minister seeking approval to close both of the 880 MWe pressurized water reactors at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant.(read more)

Westinghouse Electric Company said Sunday it had agreed to buy Rolls-Royce’s North American services division, along with some assets in Europe, for an undisclosed sum.(read more)

The first of 12 low-pressure feedwater heater replacements at the Palo Verde Generating Station in Arizona has been completed "on an expedited schedule," contracted project leader Framatome announced.(read more)

Amid a protest demanding the state of Pennsylvania enact low-carbon energy support legislation, Exelon Generation retired its Unit 1 Three Mile Island reactor Friday, an 819 MWe (net) pressurized water reactor that first went online 45 years ago.(read more)

Operators of the Novovoronezh Unit 2, part of the Phase II project in Central Russia have completed a 15-day testing protocol that now has the reactor officially ready for commissioning, Rosatom said late last week.(read more)

Cavendish Nuclear, part of the Babcock International Group, said Tuesday it had secured a consulting contract in Canada focused on licensing of a used fuel transportation package and assessment work for long-term storage.(read more)

The Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority (UJD) has mandated more inspections and reassembly of some internal reactor components before Slovenske Elektrarne can load fuel into the Mochovce Unit 3 reactor, which completed hot tests in March of this year.(read more)

The world’s largest crane, known as “Big Carl” is ready for assignments at the Hinkley Point C EPR construction site in Somerset, England, French utility Electrcite de France announced late last week.(read more)

Nuclear supply giant Westinghouse Electric Company announced this week, along with Exelon Generation Company, that a first-of-a-kind installation of accident-tolerant fuel had been completed at Exelon’s Byron Unit 2 nuclear power plant in Ogle County, Illinois.(read more)

Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said that it had taken over ownership of Magnox Ltd. from the Parent Body Organization, Cavendish Fluor Partnership, which has been contracted to dismantle 12 Magnox nuclear sites, including two research facilities and 10 nuclear reactors(read more)

Electricity de France (EDF) and Famatome, developers of the EPR reactor, triumphed the commercial start of the world’s second online EDF unit, which took place at the Taishan nuclear power plant in China’s Guangdong province on September 7.(read more)

The final shipment of nuclear fuel has been removed from Britain’s oldest nuclear power plant facility, a four-reactor operation at the Sellefield site’s Calder Hall that was closed down in March 2003. Removal of the plant’s 38,053 fuel rods began in 2011.(read more)

In a short announcement, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said on August 26 that it had submitted plans to the city of Kashiwazaki for the decommissioning of at least one of the reactors at the Kashwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station.(read more)

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said it had developed a “first-of-a-kind: cladding system for used fuel containers (UFCs) that relies on the use of copper applied through an electroplating process.(read more)

British industry support company Cavendish Nuclear said in late August that it was pleased to announce a contract awarded by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to supply technical support for the decommissioning of the fast breeder reactor at Monju, Japan.(read more)

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified Holtec International’s HI-STAR 100MB for transporting and storing nuclear plant fuel.(read more)

China General Nuclear (CGN) has announced that Unit 6 at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in the Guangdong province has competed its 168 hours of full load tests allowing it to enter commercial operations status as soon as the permits are issued.(read more)

A concrete work milestone has been reached at the Rooppur NPP Unit 2 construction project, Rosatom said. This week “ saw the completion of concrete works for the Unit No. 2 of Rooppur NPP (Bangladesh) turbine hall foundation slab, said Rosatom.(read more)

NuScale Power today announced last week it has finalized agreements with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (DHIC) and Sargent & Lundy to support deployment of its small modular reactor (SMR). The agreement comes with a cash investment for the U.S. company.(read more)

The Tohoku Electric Power Company has submitted plans for decommissioning the Onagawa Unit 1 reactor with Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, making it the tenth reactor in the country since the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 to be scheduled for closure.(read more)

What goes into the decision of where to site a nuclear power plant? As you might expect, the short answer to that is “lots.” In addition, countries around the globe are now reaching out to the nuclear power industry for future needs for electricity, heating or desalination projects. Where are all those new plants going to go? Specifically.(read more)

The first large-sized cargo for the Unit 1 – the core catcher – has been delivered at the Akkuyu NPP construction site, Rosatom said this week.(read more)

On July 31, 2019, at 19:23, the reactor of the innovative Unit 2 of Novovoronezh Phase II for the first time was brought to the design power capacity, Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom said this week.(read more)

A new law in Ohio, the Ohio Clean Air Program, would temporarily provide over $150 million per year to the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Toledo and the Perry nuclear plant near Cleveland, potentially saving them from early closure.(read more)

Atkins, a member of SNC-Lavalin Group, has been awarded a $6.09 million contract for the Enabling Works Basic Design at the Sizewell C site. It will be the first program of construction work to commence at the proposed nuclear power station, which is to be located immediately to the north of the existing Sizewell B power station, on the Suffolk coast.(read more)

French utility EDF has said that ongoing welding problems at Flamanville 3 would push back the start up date until at least early 2023, putting the initial schedule back further. The original start up date for the third unit at Flamanville in Normandy was seven years ago in 2012.(read more)

Tokyo Electric Power company, once the operator of two nuclear power plants in the Fukushima Province, said Tuesday it would decommission the Fukushima Dai-ni power plant’s four reactors. The company’s president Tomoaki Kobayakowa informed Fukushima Governor Masao Ochibori of the decision on Wednesday, according to Japanese media reports.(read more)

Claiming Canada has the world’s ripest market for small modular reactors (SMR) for domestic use, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories said Tuesday that it was launching a new initiative to accelerate development and deployment of the groundbreaking SMR technology.(read more)

NuScale Power said Monday that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had completed the second and third phases of review of the company’s small modular reactor design. This development – six weeks ahead of schedule – marks a significant milestone in the company’s timeline to commercialize its technology.(read more)

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced the construction start of its small multipurpose modular reactor called the Linglong One or ACP100 at Changjiang in the Hainen Province. (read more)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched a special inspection at the Fermi nuclear power plant to determine if degraded paint inside a portion of the reactor containment could impact certain safety systems in accident conditions.(read more)

U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected a request by two U.S. mining companies to impose a mandate that would give U.S. miners exclusivity to 25 percent of the uranium market. (read more)

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, announce that it has been awarded an $8.5 million contract by the Government of Canada to refuel the Royal Military College of Canada’s (RMC) SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reactor.(read more)

The keys to the New Safe Confinement (NSC) system built around the site of the 1986 Chernobly nuclear plant disaster have been handed over to Ukraine, the exchange a significant milestone that allows the trial run for operations of the NSC has been successful.(read more)

Uzbekistan’s energy minister has announced a plan to double the amount of electricity generated by nuclear power in the country in the coming years, stating in an interview that the country will seek construction of four reactors, rather than two.(read more)

The joint venture of Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin, Comprehensive Decommissioning International, has awarded a contract to decommission the reactor internals and reactor pressure vessel at Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant to GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH).(read more)

The U.S. Department of Energy has acknowledged that multiple shipments or radioactive waste from the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee over a five-year period had been shipped to a federal storage in Nevada that were incorrectly labeled.(read more)

The Ministry of the Environment in Spain has issued licensing for the construction of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Confrentes Nuclear Power Plant in Velencia, run by utility giant Iberdrola.(read more)

Russian nuclear power giant Rosatom has signed two memorandum of understanding along with the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) that outlines cooperation...(read more)

British and American companies Rolls-Royce and Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS) have signed a partnership agreement to provide advanced Instrumentation and Control (I&C) system testing services to the global nuclear energy market.(read more)

Rosatom fuel development company TVEL announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding to work in the Czech Republic on materials science studies and research. The work will be done at the Řež Research Center.(read more)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts has completed a review of long term operational safety at the Doel Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Units 1 and 2 in Belgium operated by Engie Electrabel.(read more)

The House Appropriations Committee has passed a spending bill of close to $1 trillion that includes $1.3 billion for the Department of Energy that will be used for nuclear power research and development. (read more)

Rosenergoatom JSC, part of the Power Division of Russian nuclear giant ROSATOM, announced Friday it has obtained a license to operate nuclear installation of the world's first floating nuclear power plant (FNPP).(read more)