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With Australia moving to decarbonise, it is time to seriously consider a role for advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors, the head of the Minerals Council of Australia said today.

US company Kairos Power has submitted the preliminary safety analysis report for its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of its application for a construction permit for the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor, which is to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Terrestrial ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß has signed an agreement with Orano for the supply of nuclear fuel for its Integral Molten Salt Reactor. The agreement is part of Terrestrial's multiple-sourcing strategy and follows the announcement last month of a similar partnership with Westinghouse and the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory.

A full-scale first-of-its kind mock-up of the main vessels of the U-Battery advanced modular reactor, revealed yesterday by U-Battery and Cavendish Nuclear, has demonstrated how the reactor can be built using modular techniques. The project was made possible with funding from the UK Government's Department for Business, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß and Industrial Strategy under its Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Programme.

NuScale has signed a second agreement to consider its small reactors as a general replacement for coal units in Poland. The US small reactor vendor will support two energy firms, Poland-based Unimot and USA-based Getka, in their joint work to explore the possibility.

Two separate agreements have been announced between Polish companies and North American small modular reactor vendors and suppliers. A memorandum of understanding between Cameco, GE Hitachi Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, GEH SMR Technologies Canada Ltd and Synthos Green ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß will see those companies evaluate a potential Canadian supply chain for a fleet of BWRX-300 reactors in Poland. Separately, NuScale Power, KGHM Polska Miedź SA and Piela Business Engineering are to explore the deployment of NuScale's SMR technology to repower or repurpose existing coal-fired power plants.

The US Department of Defense, acting through the Strategic Capabilities Office and with the Department of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß as a cooperating agency, has released a draft environmental impact statement for the construction and demonstration phase of a prototype mobile microreactor. A public comment period on the draft EIS will begin on 24 September.

Canadian companies Cameco and X-energy have entered a non-binding and non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding to explore possible areas of cooperation to support the potential future deployment, fuelling and servicing of Xe-100 small modular reactors in Canada and the USA.

NuScale Power yesterday said it is moving forward with manufacturing process development work at BWXT Canada Ltd's facility in Cambridge, Ontario, in preparation for the fabrication of the NuScale Power Module. The company said this is critical to developing its small modular reactor technology.

Prospective small reactor vendor Terrestrial ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß has announced that its IMSR400 power plant configuration will include twin reactors and generators. The move is a response to utility requirements and will increase cost competitiveness, the Canadian company said.

The first of the two high-temperature gas-cooled reactors of the demonstration HTR-PM plant at Shidaowan, in China's Shandong province, attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time yesterday. The reactor is scheduled to be connected to the electricity grid before the end of this year.

The private sector must be prepared to provide the funds needed to take new and innovative reactor technologies from the first deployment stage to wide-scale commercial operation, Jigar Shah, director of the Loans Program Office at the US Department of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, said yesterday during ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium. He said the LPO is developing the business models needed to deploy new nuclear.