¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß

Those who enter the workforce in the coming years will be greeted with the opportunity to be a part of one of Canada's most exciting industries, Glenn Thibeault, Ontario's energy minister, told delegates at the Canadian Nuclear Association's Annual Conference & Trade Show, which was held in Ottawa on 23 February.

Ontario Power Generation can proceed with the refurbishment of Darlington unit 3 after receiving the go-ahead from the province's Ministry of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß. Refurbishment of Darlington unit 2 has now passed the half-way mark.

Bruce Power has awarded L3 MAPPS a contract to replace the digital control computer system of unit 2 of the Bruce A nuclear power plant in Ontario. Last year it was awarded a similar contract for unit 6 of Bruce B.

The Ontario ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Board (OEB) has published its decision on Ontario Power Generation's (OPG's) application regarding payments for regulated nuclear and hydropower output in 2017-2021. While approving budgets for the refurbishment and extended operation of reactors, the regulator called for OPG to cut costs.

The Korea Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Research Institute has restarted the 30 MWt High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (Hanaro), which has been offline for the past three-and-a-half years. During this period, the reactor has undergone safety upgrades.

Some SEK900 million ($107 million) will be invested in installing independent core cooling systems at units 3 and 4 of the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden. The legally-required safety upgrade will enable the two reactors to continue operating beyond 2020.

Canada-based L3 MAPPS has completed an upgrade of the full scope simulator at the Krško nuclear power plant in Slovenia. The upgrade was carried out as part of a safety upgrade programme to modernise the plant.

Ukraine's Energoatom and Japan's Toshiba ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Systems & Solutions Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the modernisation of the turbine island equipment of Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Energoatom operates all of Ukraine's four nuclear power plants - Zaporozhe, Rovno, South Ukraine and Khmelnitsky - which comprise 15 nuclear reactors, including 13 VVER-1000s and two VVER-440s with a total capacity of 13,835 MWe.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation AuthorityÌýhas today approved a draft report that concludes units 6 and 7 of Tokyo Electric Power Company'sÌýKashiwazaki-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.

Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica SAÌýhas received shareholder approval to start upgrading unit 1 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, a 650 MWe Candu 6 reactor on which construction started in 1982. An extraordinary general meeting of the Romanian company's shareholders, of which the main one is the Romanian Ministry of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Business Environment, approved the plan on 28 September.

International cooperation is high in the nuclear industry, but harmonising regulatory processes remains a challenge, delegates heard at the ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß 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.

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.