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Rosatom and its subsidiaries yesterday signed agreements with a number of governments, companies and universities during the IX AtomExpo International Forum it is hosting this week in Moscow.

The process of loading fuel into unit 4 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province has begun, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced today. The unit is expected to start up later this year.

Westinghouse Electric Company yesterday announced the formal launch ofÌýits "accident-tolerant fuel solution", EnCore Fuel, during the company's Fuel Users' Group Meeting. EnCore Fuel is intended to offer "design-basis-altering safety, greater uranium efficiency and estimated economic benefits up to hundreds of millions of dollars" to Westinghouse's nuclear fuel customers.

International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency director-general Yukiya Amano yesterday updated the agency's board of governors on recent developments including the IAEA's storage facility for low-enriched uranium - known as the LEU Bank - which will be inaugurated on 29 August and should receive its first uranium in 2018.

Germany's tax on nuclear fuel is "unconstitutional and void", the country's highest court has ruled. German utilities may stand to be reimbursed some €6.3 billion ($7.1 billion) they paid between 2011 and 2016 as a result of the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling.

The US Department of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will need to rebuild their organisational capabilities in order to restart the suspended licensing process for the Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The European Commission yesterday approved EDF'sÌýtakeover of Areva's nuclear reactor businessÌýunder EU merger regulations. The transaction, expected to be completed by the end of this year, is "unlikely to raise competition concerns", it said.

The Emirates Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß CorporationÌýhas taken delivery of fuel assemblies for unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant under construction in western Abu Dhabi. The fuel assemblies are being stored until the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation approves the operating licence for units 1 and 2.

Russia has started unloading usedÌýfuel from nuclear submarines in Andreeva Bay, the former base of the Northern Fleet,Ìýa unit of the Russian Navy responsible for the defence of the north-western part of the country. The work is organised by RosRAO - a Moscow-based Rosatom subsidiary that provides commercial back-end radioactive waste and decommissioning services.

Russia's Federal Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety plans to start using TUK-1410 casks for the transport of used nuclear fuel from September. The cask will replace the 13th series of transport containers and is licensed to move used fuel assemblies from VVER-1000 reactors.

The Turkish Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Authority has moved a step closer to the restart of its TR-2 research reactor, which was shut down in 2009 and converted to use low-enriched uranium fuel. A team of experts from the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency carried out an Integrated Safety Assessment of Research Reactors follow-up mission between 25 and 28 April, whichÌýconcluded that several safety improvements to TR-2 have been implemented.

CORRECTED - French nuclear engineering company Assystem has made an offer of €125 million ($136 million) to Areva and EDF to take a 5% stake in Areva's nuclear reactor business, referred to as 'New Areva NP'.ÌýFrench utility EDF agreed in July 2015 to take a stake of between 51% and 75% in Areva's reactor unit in a government-backed plan to revitalise France's nuclear power industry.ÌýStrategic investors will be able to take minority stakes in the business.