<![CDATA[抖阴传媒在线 Nuclear News]]> <![CDATA[India inaugurates nuclear-powered hydrogen production facility]]>  ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:32:50 GMT The new facility at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, was inaugurated by Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Secretary and Chairman of India's Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Commission. It integrates the hydrogen production technology developed by the Department of Atomic 抖阴传媒在线's (DAE) Bhabha Atomic Research Centre with IGCAR's advanced fast reactor expertise.

"The successful integration of nuclear process heat with hydrogen generation marks a pioneering technological breakthrough and opens a promising pathway for large-scale, carbon-free hydrogen production using advanced nuclear reactors," the Department of Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 said.

Hydrogen is widely regarded as a key energy carrier for future energy systems and is expected to play a pivotal role in the global transition towards clean and sustainable energy systems - provided it can be made without carbon emissions. Industrial production of hydrogen is currently dominated by steam-reforming methane from fossil fuels, and electrolysis (splitting water with electricity): according to information from the International 抖阴传媒在线 Agency, less than 1% of the global production of 97 million tonnes in 2023 was low-emissions hydrogen, although in its 2024 review of hydrogen production, the agency said low-emission hydrogen could reach 49 million tonnes per year by 2030.


(Image: Department of Atomic 抖阴传媒在线鈥)

Thermochemical production of hydrogen involves separating water into hydrogen and oxygen through a series of chemical reactions at high temperatures. The copper-chlorine - or Cu–Cl - thermochemical cycle is considered one of the most promising ways of producing hydrogen due to its relatively lower operating temperatures and higher thermodynamic efficiency, according to DAE. "By harnessing nuclear heat from fast reactors, the process significantly reduces dependence on fossil fuels and eliminates greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional hydrogen production methods," the Department said.

The Fast Breeder Test Reactor - also known as the FBTR - is a sodium-cooled test reactor which first started up at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in 1985, gradually increasing its power to 32 MW (thermal) in 2018 before finally reaching its nameplate capacity of 40 MWt in 2022. The reactor has an underpinning role in India's preparation for a thorium-based closed fuel cycle.

The commissioning of the facility represents the culmination of extensive research, process development, engineering design, equipment fabrication, installation, testing and commissioning efforts undertaken jointly by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research , DAE said. It will provide operational experience, facilitate further optimisation of the Cu–Cl process, and support future research aimed at scaling up nuclear-assisted hydrogen production technologies for commercial deployment. Nuclear-coupled hydrogen production features in India's nuclear energy strategy: a 5 MWt high temperature gas cooled reactor that could be coupled with thermochemical hydrogen production is currently being developed, with a lead unit proposed for construction at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre's Vizag R&D campus in Andhra Pradesh.


IGCAR (Image: DAE)

"The integration of nuclear energy with emerging clean energy technologies such as hydrogen production represents a strategic pathway towards a sustainable energy future," Mohanty said at the inauguration of the new facility. "Nuclear power, with its unique ability to provide reliable carbon-free electricity as well as high-temperature process heat, is ideally suited to support large-scale hydrogen production while contributing to India's energy security, decarbonisation goals and long-term sustainable development objectives. I congratulate the scientists, engineers and technical teams of BARC and IGCAR whose sustained dedication, innovation and technical excellence have transformed an advanced scientific concept into an operational reality. This achievement is a testament to India's growing capabilities in advanced nuclear technologies and clean energy systems."

"Nuclear power is not only a source of reliable, round-the-clock, carbon free electricity. It is also a powerful enabler of strategic technology that can support India's clean energy transition," Mohanty said in .

]]> First criticality for Indian fast breeder reactor

India sets out two-pronged strategy for nuclear expansion

]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Blykalla teams up with Hitachi for SMR deployment]]>  ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:47:28 GMT The collaboration brings together Blykalla's advanced reactor technology with Switzerland-based Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线's expertise in electrification, grid integration, and energy industry software to support the integration of reliable, fossil-free power into future energy systems. Through the MoU, the companies will jointly optimise the electrical and grid integration design for Blykalla's reactor type, covering transmission-level connection, on-site electrical systems, and digital monitoring. It also enables Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线 to integrate its offering into a standard solution for small modular reactors (SMRs).

Focus areas include, but are not limited to, conceptual designs for grid connection and network integration, on-site electrical architecture, digital tools for construction and operation, and a combined offering for customers with the highest, most constant power demands, beginning with data centres and energy-intensive industry.

"By integrating Blykalla's power generation with Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线's solutions for electrical infrastructure, the collaboration aims to accelerate the commercialisation and deployment of advanced nuclear solutions across Europe and the United States," Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线 said.

"As we move toward commercialisation, this collaboration strengthens our ability to deliver complete energy solutions," said Blykalla CEO Jacob Stedman. "Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线's expertise in electrification makes them a strong partner to help bring our technology to market, and positions us to meet the growing global demand for clean, reliable power."

Tobias Hansson, Country Managing Director of Hitachi 抖阴传媒在线 Sweden, added: "We need reliable and low-carbon power solutions that can be integrated efficiently into the energy system as electricity demand continues to grow across industry and digital infrastructure. By combining Blykalla's innovative reactor technology with our expertise in electrical infrastructure, we can help enable solutions that support industrial growth and the broader energy transition."

Blykalla - formerly called LeadCold - is a spin-off from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where lead-cooled reactor systems have been under development since 1996. The company - founded in 2013 as a joint stock company - is developing the SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor). The company's goal is for its first 140 MWt/55 MWe SEALER-55 commercial reactor to be ready for operation in the early 2030s.

In May, Blykalla submitted an application to the government to construct a power plant in Norrsundet, Gävle, in east central Sweden, comprising six SEALER reactors. The proposed plant will have a total generating capacity of 330 MWe. Earlier this month, the company applied for government financing for the plant.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Polish developer applies for CfD for three SMR plants]]>  ]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:34:21 GMT The units listed in the application - in W艂oc艂awek, Stawy Monowskie near O艣wi臋cim, and Stalowa Wola - are the first phase of a broader OSGE programme, which ultimately includes the construction of 26 BWRX-300 units in line with the principal decisions obtained by the company from the Polish government.

A Contract for Difference (CfD) is a support mechanism in which two parties settle the difference between a predetermined strike price and the current market price of a given asset - in the case of energy, the price of electricity. When market prices are below the reference price, the positive difference is paid to the producer. If market prices exceed the reference price, the difference is paid to the supporting party. In the energy sector, a CfD acts as a price stabilisation mechanism.

"The Contract for Difference for 14 units will enable us to build a fleet of BWRX-300 reactors in Poland," said OSGE CEO Rafa艂 Kasprów. "Thanks to economies of scale, standardisation and modularisation, we will reduce unit cost and, as a result, create a cost-attractive electricity generation model for both individual and industrial customers. At the same time, the approval of the Contract for Difference will be a significant step toward building a robust SMR supply chain in Poland."

In December 2025, the European Commission concluded that the planned public support for Poland's first large-scale nuclear power plant complies with EU rules on state aid. The support the government intends to give Polskie Elektrownie J膮drowe (PEJ) for the construction of three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania includes a two-way Contract for Difference providing revenue stability over the entire 60-year lifetime of the power plant.

"The recent example of Polskie Elektrownie J膮drowe has shown that a Contract for Difference for a nuclear project can be notified by the European Commission very efficiently," added Bartosz Fija艂kowski, Vice President of the Management Board of OSGE. "In that process the fact that the application was prepared very professionally by the Polish government and approved by the Commission without the need for modifications has been equally important. We are confident that our case will be similar, especially given the growing support and positive attitude toward SMR projects in Brussels."

Based on OSGE's submission, the government will now prepare documentation for the European Commission's notification.

OSGE has already obtained decisions in principle for all locations indicated in the application. For two projects – W艂oc艂awek and Stawy Monowskie – the Director General for Environmental Protection (GDO艢) has already issued decisions defining the scope of the environmental impact assessment report, while for the Stalowa Wola project the relevant application has been submitted. OSGE has also obtained grid connection conditions issued by Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne SA for the Stawy Monowskie site.

According to OSGE's assumptions, the first BWRX-300 unit will be commissioned in 2032 in W艂oc艂awek.

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线's (GEVH's) BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEVH's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor design and its existing, licensed GNF2 fuel design, a unique combination that GEVH says positions it to deliver an "innovative, carbon-free baseload power generation source" this decade.

The first BWRX-300 is under construction at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, with completion expected by the end of the decade. The Darlington project is a reference project for OSGE.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[First Nations group takes stake in Ontario nuclear plant]]>  ]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:01:48 GMT The investment will provide the participating First Nations with a "meaningful ownership stake" in the project, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) said.

The loan guarantee from Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation (CILGC), in fifty-fifty partnership with the Province of Ontario through the Indigenous Opportunities Financing Program administered by Building Ontario Fund, is the largest Indigenous loan guarantee ever issued, CILGC said. CILGC is part of the Canada Development Investment Corporation Group of Companies (also known as CDEV), a federal Crown corporation reporting to the minister of finance. 

Under the agreement, the Williams Treaties First Nations will provide a loan to Darlington New Nuclear Project LP (the equity partnership formed to construct and operate the plant) for the construction of the first of four SMR units to be built at the site. The loan will transition to equity once construction of all four units is complete. 

The Williams Treaties First Nations are seven communities of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Anishinaabeg Nations: Alderville First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Beausoleil First Nation, Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, and Chippewas of Rama First Nation. 

"Today, the Williams Treaties First Nations are taking a historic step forward by becoming investors and future owners in Ontario Power Generation's Darlington New Nuclear Project," the Chiefs of the Williams Treaties First Nations said in a joint statement.

"Following years of discussion, analysis, negotiation, and planning, our Nations have agreed to make a $700 million investment in the project through our jointly held investment limited partnership, WTFN Investment Holdings LP. Structured as a commercial loan that will convert to equity ownership over time, this transaction positions our Nations as long-term partners in one of the most significant energy infrastructure projects in Canada.

"This represents the largest collective First Nations investment in nuclear generation in Canada and a landmark Indigenous investment in Canada's first grid-scale small modular reactor, the first such project in the G7. At a time of growing electricity demand, our Nations are helping support the development of reliable, low-emissions energy infrastructure that will serve Ontario for generations to come.

"This decision reflects our commitment to creating long-term opportunities and prosperity for our communities while ensuring that our Nations play a meaningful role in shaping major developments taking place within our territories."

Kristan Straub, President and Chief Executive Officer of CILGC, said the investment marks a new era of Indigenous participation in Canada's major projects. "The Darlington New Nuclear Project is a landmark clean electricity investment, and with today's announcement, in partnership with the Building Ontario Fund, Williams Treaties First Nations will be partners at scale in a major project - something they, and other Indigenous peoples, have been ready for for a very long time. Indigenous ownership is central to Canada's energy future and long-term economic growth. This is what economic reconciliation is all about."


A digital rendering of OPG's future Small Modular Reactor at Darlington (Image: OPG)

GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线's BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线's US Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor design and its existing, licensed GNF2 fuel design. 

The Darlington New Nuclear Project will be the first new nuclear build in Ontario in more than three decades. OPG received a Licence to Construct the first of four planned BWRX-300s at Darlington in April 2025, and since then has continued to make progress. In April, the Basemat module - the foundation of the reactor building, weighing in at nearly 953 tonnes - was lifted into the newly excavated reactor building shaft, 35 metres below ground. Preparations are now underway for the excavation of a 3.4-kilometre-long Condenser Cooling Water tunnel.

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]]> true <![CDATA[In pictures: Akkuyu 2's inner dome lifted into place]]>  ]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:49:12 GMT A heavy duty crawler crane was used for the lift in an operation which took about seven hours in total.


(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

It involved more than 40 specialists at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant site, ensuring it was firmly secured for the lift.


鈥(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

It had taken about four months to pre-assemble the dome, made of 15 assembly sections, near the reactor building.


鈥(Image: Akkuyu NPP)


鈥(Image: Akkuyu NPP)


鈥(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 units at Akkuyu, in the southern Mersin province. The units have two containment buildings. The inner one has a steel lining ensuring the leak-tightness of the reactor compartment and special concrete; the outer containment is made of reinforced concrete and is designed to withstand external impacts.

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC Chief Executive Officer Sergei But褋kikh, said: "The installation of the inner containment dome is one of the most technically complex and critical operations in the construction of a reactor building. The construction and installation team prepares for it over several months. A great deal of work has been accomplished: the manufacturing and delivery of the inner containment sections to the site by road and sea, the pre-assembly of the structure, welding of its components, and preparation for the lift. The successful completion of this operation is the result of the efforts of hundreds of professionals - engineers, assemblers, welders, riggers, crane operators, and many others."

The next stage of work on the unit will see welding of the dome into place on the inner containment, while work continues on reinforcing and concreting the containment. Last month Turkey's nuclear regulator granted a permit for commissioning work to take place on the second unit.

Background

Rosatom is building the four reactors under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. According to the terms of the 2010 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, the aim was for the commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant to take place within seven years from receipt of all permits for the construction of the unit.


All four units at the site are under construction 鈥(Image: Akkuyu NPP)

The licence for the construction of the first unit was issued in 2018, with construction work beginning that year. The first steam generators were shipped to the site - for unit 1 - in August 2020. Nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in April 2023. The aim is for unit 1 to begin supplying Turkey's energy system during 2026.

When the 4,800 MWe plant is completed, it is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

Turkey has plans for a second nuclear power plant, at Sinop, and has also been in talks with China about plans for a third plant, in the Thrace region in the country's north-west.

The country is also developing plans for small modular reactors, with the aim of adding 5 GWe of capacity by 2050 - which would mean the equivalent of at least 16 individual SMRs.

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 ·]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Fuel loading begins at Slovakia's Mochovce 4]]>  ]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:33:51 GMT The Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic issued notice of its commissioning permission for the new unit on 22 May, with the go-ahead confirmed on 24 June following a period to allow for any appeals against the decision.

The first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor on 29 June at 15:45 local time.

The regulatory authority said that to secure the commissioning permission, "the investor had to demonstrate the readiness of the reactor unit for fuel loading and the start of active tests comprehensively in all assessed areas, from the completion of construction objects, through the completion of the assembly of technological systems, successful verification of project functions through a series of inactive system and integral tests, elimination of identified deficiencies and shortcomings, ensuring fire and radiation protection, environmental protection, to the readiness of personnel and operational documentation".

Once all the fuel is loaded, active reactor tests will begin, with each stage subject to the regulator's approval. The commissioning process will see the power increased in stages before a demonstration run for 144-hours at full power.

Construction of the first two VVER-440 units at the four-unit Mochovce plant started in 1982. Work began on units 3 and 4 in 1986, but stalled in 1992. The first two reactors were completed and came into operation in 1998 and 1999, respectively, with a project to complete units 3 and 4 beginning ten years later at an estimated cost of EUR6.7 billion (USD7.6 billion).

Mochovce 3 entered commercial operation in October 2023. Each of the units can provide 13% of Slovakia's electricity needs when operating at full capacity and when the 471 MW-capacity unit 4 is operating, nuclear will be providing the equivalent of 77.5% of Slovakia’s electricity consumption, the highest proportion for any country.

Branislav Strý膷ek, Chairman and CEO of Slovenske elektrárne, said: "The fourth unit of Mochovce closes one of the key chapters in the development of the Slovak energy sector. It is the moment when the long-term efforts of thousands of people are transformed into a concrete value for the country - stable, low-emission and price-predictable electricity. Mochovce 4 is a reason for professional and human pride and at the same time proof that even smaller countries and nations can do great things."

Prime Minister Robert Fico said the country was a world leader in nuclear energy and can be "a role model not only for Europe, but also for the whole world", adding: "When a country has enough energy resources, it can feel safe. It's not just about guns, it's about whether the country has enough electricity without which you can produce nothing. You must have electricity."

Slovenské elektrárne's majority shareholder is Slovak Power Holding BV (SPH), which is owned by the Czech energy group Energetický a pr暖myslový. The second shareholder is the Slovak Republic, which has a 34% stake.

Slovakia currently has five nuclear reactors generating about half its electricity. As well as the Mochovce units, there are two at Bohunice, which went into commercial operation in 1984 and 1985, respectively. The Slovak government has plans for a new large unit at Bohunice, and has also been exploring the potential for small modular reactors in the country.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Scottish sites suitable for nuclear new build, study says]]>  ]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:56:12 GMT The 抖阴传媒在线 Secretary commissioned Great British 抖阴传媒在线 - Nuclear (GBE-N) in late 2025 to conduct a technical study into potential suitable areas in Scotland for possible new nuclear developments in the future, including small modular reactors or large-scale power plants.

"This study focused on land types of particular interest; specifically, former and existing nuclear and other energy generation sites, brownfield sites and previously undeveloped land, with particular interest in land areas designated for development or adjacent to existing infrastructure," says. "Several areas of interest have been found in all categories: there are strong candidates in the first two categories, whilst there are also areas of apparently undeveloped land that may satisfy the constraints with varying potential. All prospects are either coastal or sited on major rivers or estuaries."

The study identified the following areas currently associated with nuclear power: Torness, East Lothian; Dounreay, Caithness; and Hunterston, North Ayrshire. It also identified other potential areas around the Firth of Forth Estuary and the eastern coast of Scotland.

"The land areas identified by the study are not intended to provide an exhaustive list of potentially suitable locations in Scotland," GBE-N notes. "Identification of any land area as potentially suitable does not imply endorsement or development intent. Confirmation of site suitability would only be achievable through detailed, site-specific assessment and the application of the full regulatory and planning processes, including early and extensive engagement with communities and stakeholders."

In November, GBE-N was further commissioned to undertake a wider study to consider land areas potentially suitable for deploying large-scale reactor technology in England, Wales and Scotland. That study - due to conclude later this year - will "substantially improve understanding of the relative value of the land areas identified in this report", GBE-N said.

Nuclear policy is set at a UK-wide level by the UK government. Scotland has a long history of nuclear energy generation and hosts a small number of nuclear energy facilities, the majority of which are now being decommissioned. However, the Scottish government has a long-standing policy that it will not grant planning consent to new nuclear projects in Scotland.

"Should the policy position of the Scottish government change, specific local considerations and uncertainties notwithstanding, several significant land areas appear to offer suitable terrain, ready access to a source of cooling water, transport access by road, rail and sea as well as access to a skilled workforce, indicating a new nuclear power plant could be hosted," GBE-N said. "UK ministers remain open to discussions with the Scottish government on deploying new nuclear technologies in Scotland."

抖阴传媒在线 Minister Michael Shanks said: "For decades, thousands of Scots have worked in the nuclear sector and provided the country with low-carbon, reliable power. This new report shows there is potential for new nuclear in Scotland, which could boost the country's energy security and deliver new jobs."

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive at the Nuclear Industry Association, said the report "confirms what nuclear communities have long known: Scotland has excellent potential to host new nuclear projects. With suitable sites, a highly skilled workforce, and decades of nuclear expertise, Scotland is ready to benefit from the next generation of nuclear technologies".

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[State support needed to make new Swiss reactors viable, report says]]>  ]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:02:22 GMT investigated under which conditions the construction of new nuclear power plants may make financial sense for Switzerland's future energy system. The findings of the study are based on four different energy models. These models calculate which technologies Switzerland could use by 2050 to cover significantly higher electricity demand as cheaply as possible and in a carbon-neutral way.

Assuming that the state will continue to subsidise renewable electricity sources such as photovoltaics and wind as part of its target to expand power generation to 45 TWh and not provide any funding for the construction of new nuclear power plants, nuclear power would be too expensive under the majority of model calculations used in the study. This remains the case even with low to moderate construction costs of CHF5,000 to CHF8,000 (USD6,180 to USD9,890) per kW of installed capacity.

According to the study, however, new nuclear power plants are technologically compatible with a future energy system based primarily on solar and wind power. And in order for nuclear power to be economically competitive compared with the renewable electricity sources that are already being supported, three things are needed. Firstly, the government would have to decide to also support nuclear power as part of the 45 TWh target. Secondly, politicians would have to decide on risk reduction measures to lower the financing costs of new nuclear power plants from its estimated market rate of 8% to 5%, in line with the interest rate for other large-scale carbon-neutral plants. Thirdly, construction costs for new nuclear power plants must not be too high. With construction costs of CHF12,000 per kW, which are similar to costs recently observed in Europe and the USA, building new nuclear power plants will no longer be worth it in three of the four models – even if the government awards subsidies and bears a portion of the financial risk. But in the hypothetical scenario where construction costs of CHF5,000 per kilowatt could be achieved, it would be profitable to build between 2.6 and 4.9 GWe of new nuclear power plants. Even with moderate construction costs of CHF8,000 per kW, two out of four models still predict an installed power plant capacity of 2 GWe.

The study says Switzerland can achieve its net-zero target using existing and planned technologies without the need for new nuclear power plants with efficient electricity trading with foreign countries among the essential factors for the stability of a system that does not include nuclear. The models show that new nuclear power plants would reduce net electricity imports in winter overall, but not eliminate them entirely. Depending on the model, net electricity imports in winter could be reduced by 1 to 6 TWh - 3 to 20% of the electricity currently generated between October and March.

"Each of these models is based on a range of assumptions that are associated with uncertainties and simplify the complexity of the energy system," said André Bardow, Professor at ETH. "In cases where these models point in the same direction, there are robust findings that could form the basis for discussion by society and in the sphere of politics. As for whether to decide for or against nuclear power, this is ultimately a question for society."

Andreas Pautz, Head of the PSI Centre for Nuclear Engineering and Sciences, Professor of Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour at EPFL and one of the study's authors said: "This goes to show how crucial construction costs are for nuclear power plants to be competitive. Prices for new nuclear power plants recently seen in the US and Europe can also be attributed to the fact that they are the first projects of their kind. At best, nuclear energy will only be competitive in Switzerland if manufacturers successfully learn the lessons of these cost overruns and limit the costs of future plants to around CHF8,000 per kW." 

The Swiss Nuclear Forum welcomed the study, saying it shows "that new nuclear power plants can be part of a cost-optimised, climate-neutral Swiss energy system under certain economic and regulatory conditions".

Hans-Ulrich Bigler, President of the Swiss Nuclear Forum, said: "The study is not a rejection of new nuclear power plants. Instead, it shows under what conditions nuclear energy can be economically integrated into the future Swiss energy system. Ultimately, the framework conditions that will apply in the future are a political decision ... Lifting the legal ban on new construction is the right way forward. Those who want to make technology-neutral decisions shouldn't exclude one option by law today. Whether and when new nuclear power plants are actually built will be determined later by economic viability, willingness to invest, and future electricity demand."

Background

Switzerland currently has four nuclear power reactors - two at the Beznau plant and one each at the Gösgen and Leibstadt plants - generating about one-third of its electricity. They all have an unlimited operating licence and can be operated as long as they are safe.

A new Swiss energy policy was sought in response to the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Two months later, both the Swiss parliament and government decided to exit nuclear power production. The 抖阴传媒在线 Strategy 2050 initiative drawn up by the Federal Council came into force on 1 January 2018 and calls for a gradual withdrawal from nuclear energy. It also foresees expanded use of renewables and hydro power but anticipates increased reliance on fossil fuels and electricity imports as an interim measure.

In August last year, Switzerland's Federal Council presented draft legislation that would remove the country's ban on the construction of new nuclear power.

The publication of the study by ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute comes as the 'No to New Nuclear Power Stations' coalition - comprising the Greens, the Socialist Democrats, the Green Liberal Party and various other organisations - launched a popular initiative to block the construction of new nuclear power plants in Switzerland. Building new nuclear plants would make the country dependent on foreign energy, cost billions and hinder the development of renewable energy, according to the initiative committee. The committee has until 8 October to collect 50,000 signatures for the referendum to go ahead.

An online poll conducted in September 2024 found that 53% of the Swiss population supports the government's plan to remove the country's ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants.

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]]> true <![CDATA[In pictures: Final module installed at Haiyang 4]]>  ]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:43:29 GMT The CB-20 module will store more than 3,000 tonnes of water, which can be used to help cool the reactor in an emergency. The water can also be directed into the reactor's used fuel pool, while the tank itself can be refilled from water stored elsewhere on site. The tank is part of the plant's passive safety systems which require no operator actions to mitigate potential emergency situations, using natural forces such as gravity, natural circulation and compressed gas to achieve their safety function. In conjunction with other passive safety features, the CB-20 module can maintain unit safety for 72 hours without human intervention.

The module - consisting of two layers of cylindrical wall panels, a top plate, and a conical bottom plate - was hoisted into place on top of the nuclear island's shielding building on 29 June. It has an outer diameter of almost 26 metres, an inner diameter of 10.6 metres and a height of just over 10 metres, and a total weight of some 419 tonnes.


(Image: SPIC)

"This successful hoisting marks the full entry of the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant Phase II project into the installation and commissioning phase," SPIC said.

The construction of two CAP1000 reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - at each of the Haiyang, Sanmen and Lufeng nuclear power plant sites in China was approved by the country's State Council on 20 April 2022. The approvals were for Haiyang 3 and 4, Sanmen units 3 and 4 and units 5 and 6 of the Lufeng plant. The Sanmen and Haiyang plants are already home to two AP1000 units each.


(Image: SPIC)

Unit 1 of the Haiyang plant entered commercial operation in October 2018, with unit 2 following in January 2019.

The first safety-related concrete was poured for the nuclear island of Haiyang unit 3 in July 2022, and in March the outer steel dome of the nuclear island containment building was hoisted into place. Construction of Haiyang 4 began in April last year. The planned construction period for Haiyang 3 and 4 was 56 months, with the two units scheduled to be fully operational in 2027.


(Image: SPIC)

"Once all four units are in operation, the plant is expected to generate 40 billion kWh of electricity annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 30 million tonnes each year," SPIC noted.

The Haiyang plant is planned to eventually have six 1,000 MW reactors, with room for expansion of two more units, the company said.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Criticality for third US reactor ahead of 4 July deadline]]> Deployable 抖阴传媒在线's Unity demonstration reactor has successfully achieved initial criticality at the National Reactor Innovation Center located at Idaho National Laboratory - which means the US has achieved the presidential goal set last year of three microreactors under Department of 抖阴传媒在线 authorisation to achieve initial criticalities by 4 July 2026.
 

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:59:13 GMT Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor became the first to do this, reaching initial criticality in early June, closely followed by Valar Atomics' Ward 250 reactor.

Antares' and Valar's reactors achieved their first criticality under the Department of 抖阴传媒在线 (DOE) Reactor Pilot Program. Deployable 抖阴传媒在线 completed the Unity criticality experiment under the Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线 Launch Pad, an initiative launched in March under the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)-based National Reactor Innovation Center to build on the Reactor Pilot Program, leveraging authorisation from the DOE - rather than the conventional US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing route - to expeditiously certify and construct first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear technologies for demonstration.

Unity was the first selection under the Launch Pad initiative, in April this year. Reaching the criticality milestone so soon has set a new benchmark for execution speed in the advanced nuclear sector, according to INL Laboratory Director John Wagner: "Achieving criticality in roughly 150 days is a remarkable accomplishment, and Idaho National Laboratory is proud to have provided the facilities and expertise that helped make this milestone possible," he said.

"Having instrumental partners in the Department of 抖阴传媒在线, INL, and our suppliers has been crucial to the success of this criticality test," Deployable 抖阴传媒在线 co-founder and CEO Bobby Gallagher said. "This accomplishment demonstrates the dedication of our team and partners and moves us collectively one step closer to delivering reliable, resilient, and deployable nuclear energy solutions by leveraging the expertise and capabilities at INL and the existing fuel supply chain."

"Last week, I had the opportunity to see the Unity demonstration reactor firsthand and meet with the talented teams from Deployable 抖阴传媒在线, INL and DOE whose work made this historic moment possible on the eve of our nation's 250th anniversary," Secretary of 抖阴传媒在线 Chris Wright said, describing the achievement as "a significant milestone on a timeline many thought was unachievable. Advanced nuclear technologies like Unity will help power the next generation of American industry, strengthen our energy security, and ensure the United States remains the world's nuclear innovation leader".

The Unity microreactor is envisaged by Deployable 抖阴传媒在线 as a compact, 1 MWe water-moderated, gas-cooled "nuclear battery" designed to provide reliable, carbon-free power where conventional energy infrastructure is unavailable, impractical, or vulnerable. It says the technology aims to support a wide range of applications, including remote communities, emergency response operations, defence missions, critical infrastructure resilience, and industrial energy needs.

Criticality is the point at which a nuclear reactor sustains a controlled, self-supporting chain reaction. Although the initial criticality was achieved with a full-scale core load, this was a zero-power criticality. Now this has been achieved, the next steps for Unity will be a phased testing programme that includes further validating reactor physics, load following, inherent safety, and full-power operations. These tests will provide additional data to verify reactor performance and support future licensing and commercialisation efforts, and to support continued system validation, performance optimisation, and future deployment planning.

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]]> true <![CDATA[SGE-led team targets 14 BWRX-300 SMRs in UK]]>  ]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:36:20 GMT SGE (formerly Synthos Green 抖阴传媒在线) submitted the application under the UK's Advanced Nuclear Framework for reactors which could provide 4.2 GW of capacity, equivalent to 11% of current UK power demand.

SGE, which has BWRX-300 projects under way in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, said it has already invested GBP50 million (USD66 million) to get to the stage of submitting the UK project application, which included more than 1,500 pages. It has established SGE SMR UK Ltd as its UK-based project vehicle.

At a signing ceremony before submitting the application, SGE said that its aim was for the project to enter the UK's Advanced Nuclear Pipeline in November, with site selection and government support scheme negotiations in the first half of 2027, a final investment decision in 2030 and commercial operation of the first unit targeted for 2034.

The plan is for the initial site to host six of the 300 MW small modular reactors (SMRs), with four each at two subsequent sites. The locations of the proposed sites, and the proposed operator of the units, are said to be going to be released "in the near future", pending final negotiations.

Micha艂 So艂owow, founder of SGE, said: "We are focused on delivering efficient, safe, affordable, and clean nuclear energy power at fleet scale. The UK is home to one of the world's most experienced nuclear workforce and the British Government has provided a clear path to market with the Advanced Nuclear Framework. Because of this, I am confident we will set a new standard for nuclear development by combining our disruptive business model with the BWRX-300's tenth generation proven technology. We will rely strongly on the UK supply chain; it is a critical element for our project."

He stressed it was a commercial approach, saying they were not asking for money from the UK government, "we are asking for the opportunity", adding that it is "our risk, if we don’t deliver".


How a BWRX-300 could look (Image: GE Vernaova Hitachi)

Rafa艂 Kasprów, CEO of SGE, said: "Standardisation, repetition, modularisation, and a fleet deployment strategy are the most effective ways to deliver new nuclear projects successfully, reducing costs, construction risk, and delivery times. We are committed to working with UK partners to provide secure, affordable, and clean electricity to millions of British households for generations to come."

Jason Cooper, CEO of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线, said: "SGE's vision reflects the growing momentum behind new nuclear across Europe and the critical role SMRs can play in strengthening energy security while delivering reliable, lower-carbon electricity. With construction already under way at the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario, Canada, the first commercial-scale SMR under construction in the Western world, the BWRX-300 offers the confidence that comes from real project execution."

John O’Connor, Group Commercial Director of Laing O’Rourke, said the company would bring nuclear experience and pioneering industrialised construction methods to the development of SMRs. Aaron Johnson, Senior Vice President, Nuclear, Aecon Group Inc, a leading partner on the Darlington BWRX-300 deployment in Canada, said "early involvement in this landmark project positions Aecon to leverage first-of-a-kind experience and tailor proven approaches for SGE in the UK and in other international markets".

Others involved in the project include Fermi Development, a UK-based developer with a decade of renewable energy development expertise, which says it has "screened more than 100 sites, with around 40 sites identified as potentially developable, enabling a fleet approach through application of a consistent model, which is central to schedule resilience, delivery and investor confidence".

Luba Kotzeva, founder and CEO of advisory and consultancy group Etara, whose team has had advisory roles on nuclear projects in 12 European countries, including the UK's Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C and Wylfa projects, said the proposed fleet-scale delivery was to capture learnings and to bring pricing down so "it is privately financeable and at affordable levels".

The project is proposing a Contract for Difference financing scheme - the type used for Hinkley Point C and preferred in European Union projects, but replaced by the regulated asset base model in the UK for the more recent Sizewell C project - which means an agreed price is set in advance for the electricity generated, with the power generator repaying the difference if the price goes above the agreed level, and the government subsidising the amount if the electricity price is below the agreed level. Under the Contracts for Difference system developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving revenue when the power plant starts generating electricity. Under the Regulated Asset Base funding model consumers contribute towards the cost of new nuclear power plants during the construction phase.

The project aims to learn from the experience of Contract for Difference schemes elsewhere in Europe and has proposed modifications to the Hinkley Point-style scheme to better enable private finance, with government asked to back provision of revenue support and risk sharing - including protection against future political changes of policy - "and for consumers providing a hedge for future power price shocks".

It is understood that the aim is for the level set for the Contract for Difference is to likely be in the same area as the current Hinkley Point C figure. The potential for power purchase agreements, which could also underpin financing, will also be included in the negotiations, as well as investment from the UK’s National Wealth Fund.

As to the likely cost per SMR, the project team aims that once they are in fleet mode, each SMR would cost about GBP2.2-2.5 billion (USD2.9-3.3 billion). There are plans to have some associated data centres with the SMRs, and although Google’s current role is as a technology partner SGE hopes they may become an investment partner on the data centre on the site.

Background

GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300 small modular reactor is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEH's ESBWR boiling water reactor. In December it passed Step 2 of the UK's Generic Design Assessment. The regulators said there are "no fundamental safety, security, safeguards or environmental protection shortfalls with the design that could prevent its deployment in Great Britain".

However before units could be built, the regulators would need to undertake a further period of detailed design assessment before safety-significant construction could begin and environmental permits could be issued. This assessment could be conducted on a generic basis with GE Vernova Hitachi, should the company choose to return to the GDA process to complete Step 3. Alternatively, it could be undertaken with a licensee or constructor as part of a site-specific development.

Orlen Synthos Green 抖阴传媒在线 applied to Poland's Minister of 抖阴传媒在线 last month for a Contract for Difference for the construction of a total of 14 BWRX-300 small modular reactors at three locations in Poland, the first phase of a broader OSGE programme, which ultimately includes the construction of 26 BWRX-300 units in line with the principal decisions obtained by the company from the Polish government. The aim is for the first unit to be operational in 2032.

The UK currently generates about 15% of its electricity from about 5.9 GWe of nuclear capacity. Most existing capacity is to be retired by the end of the decade, but the first of a new generation of nuclear plants is under construction at Hinkley Point C, and a final investment decision has been confirmed for a second plant at Sizewell C. Government plans call for up to 24 GWe of new nuclear capacity by 2050 to provide about 25% of electricity.

A selection contest was held for the UK government's first small modular reactor programme, which culminated last year with Rolls-Royce SMR being selected, with at least three and possibly eight of its 470 MW units set to be built at the Gwyndod site near the existing Wylfa site on Anglesey in North Wales.

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]]> true <![CDATA[TRISO fuel delivered for Kaleidos reactor experiment]]>  ]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:19:17 GMT The tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel was fabricated by Standard Nuclear to Radiant's specifications earlier this year. It will be used to power Radiant's Kaleidos reactor to conduct a full-power, full-temperature test this summer, the company said, starting months of rigorous testing and validation. With fuel now on site, the company said it is "poised to bring Kaleidos online".

Radiant is to carry out a five-phase reactor development testing programme at the facility to collect critical reactor and fuel performance data, which it says will help accelerate the commercial licensing process with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It will progress through zero-power criticality, 1 MW thermal, full power, and full heat, before operating for a minimum of 150 hours at full power without operator intervention, a crucial milestone in proving commercial readiness. 

The Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments test bed - DOME for short - is a 100 feet (30 metres) tall and 80 feet in diameter facility that uses the containment structure of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) which operated from 1964 to 1994. It provides a safe environment to test experimental reactor concepts and gather performance data that can be used to inform future commercial licensing applications, helping to accelerate development timelines and ultimately saving money and reducing project risk.


Radiant designed, validated and performed the safety analysis of its own system for transporting the fuel (Image: Radiant)

"We are de-risking a commercial product that will be manufactured and delivered within 18 months," Radiant Chief Nuclear Officer Rita Baranwal said. "Receipt of our freshly fabricated, modern-pedigree, custom-made fuel is a key milestone toward that goal. Radiant has been very disciplined with our testing program at the DOME; we are testing our prototypic fuel, coolant, and power levels to validate our product and ensure success for our customer deployment by 2028."

Data collected from DOME will also play a key role in supporting Radiant's Part 70 licence application for its R-50 manufacturing facility in Tennessee, which is in accelerated review by the NRC. Once approved, the licence will enable Radiant to handle and load fuel for its Kaleidos reactors before shipping to customers across the United States, unlocking standardized mass production.

Kaleidos is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor using TRISO fuel, helium gas coolant, and prismatic graphite blocks. The transportable microreactor will be fully contained in a single shipping container, and is designed to generate 3MW thermal or and around 1MW electrical. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been conducting pre-application activities for the reactor with Radiant since 2022. Kaleidos is one of three microreactor designs selected in 2023 to receive US federal funding or front-end engineering and experiment design at DOME.

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 ]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Fuel loading completed at Mochovce 4]]>  ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:49:33 GMT The loading of the fuel into the new reactor in Slovakia marks the transition from the construction phase to the start-up phase of a new nuclear power unit.

The VVER-440 unit will now move on to pre-criticality tests before the first controlled fission reaction takes place, all under the supervision of the Slovak Republic's Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

There will then be a series of tests to verify the properties of the reactor core before the unit's output is increased in small steps, with tests taking place at each stage before regulators clear an increase in power levels.

The 349 assemblies in the reactor are 312 fuel assemblies and 37 control assemblies. The fuel is uranium dioxide in the form of ceramic tablets, which each weigh about 5 grams and are in fuel rods. One fuel assembly includes 126 fuel rods. When fully loaded, the reactor contains about 42 tonnes of nuclear fuel, and fuel assemblies remain in the core for about five years, Slovenské elektrárne said.

Martin Mráz, Project Director Mochovec, Slovenské elektrárne, said: "The completion of fuel loading into unit 4 is another significant step on the way to completing the Mochovce project. With this unit, we are closing one of the most important chapters in the Slovak energy sector. The result will be a stable and reliable source of low-emission electricity for households, industry and future generations. It is the success of thousands of people who have been involved in the project for many years."

Background

Construction of the first two VVER-440 units at the four-unit Mochovce plant started in 1982. Work began on units 3 and 4 in 1986, but stalled in 1992. The first two reactors were completed and came into operation in 1998 and 1999, respectively, with a project to complete units 3 and 4 beginning ten years later at an estimated cost of EUR6.7 billion (USD7.6 billion).

Mochovce 3 entered commercial operation in October 2023. Each of the units can provide 13% of Slovakia's electricity needs when operating at full capacity and when the 471 MW-capacity unit 4 is operating, nuclear will be providing the equivalent of 77.5% of Slovakia’s electricity consumption, the highest proportion for any country.

Slovenské elektrárne's majority shareholder is Slovak Power Holding BV (SPH), which is owned by the Czech energy group Energetický a pr暖myslový. The second shareholder is the Slovak Republic, which has a 34% stake.

Slovakia currently has five nuclear reactors generating about half its electricity. As well as the Mochovce units, there are two at Bohunice, which went into commercial operation in 1984 and 1985, respectively. The Slovak government has plans for a new large unit at Bohunice, and has also been exploring the potential for small modular reactors in the country.

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 ]]> true <![CDATA[Second Taipingling unit begins supplying power]]>  ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 14:35:28 GMT Taipingling 2 received an operating licence from China's National Nuclear Safety Administration on 30 April. The loading of a total of 177 fuel assemblies was completed on 3 May. It attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time (referred to as first criticality) on 25 June.

CGN has now announced that the 1,116 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor was "successfully connected to the grid for the first time, generating its first kilowatt-hour of electricity" on 4 July.

"This marks a crucial step towards the commissioning of the second unit of the first Hualong One nuclear power base in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, signifying that it has officially gained the ability to transmit power to the grid," the company said. "After grid connection, on-site confirmation showed that the unit is operating well, and all technical indicators meet design expectations. A series of tests will be conducted as planned to further verify the unit's performance, and it is expected to officially commence power generation in the second half of 2026."


Taipingling units 1 and 2 (Image: CGN)

The Taipingling plant will eventually have six Hualong One reactors, with a total investment exceeding CNY120 billion (USD17 billion). The construction of the first and second units began in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Hot testing of unit 1 was completed in September 2024, with that of unit 2 completed in July 2025. Unit 1 attained first criticality on 3 February this year and was connected to the grid on 13 February. It entered commercial operation on 19 April.

Construction of the second phase of the Taipingling plant - units 3 and 4 - was approved by China's State Council in December 2023, with construction of unit 3 getting under way in June last year. The first nuclear safety-related concrete for the reactor building of unit 4 was poured in May.

Once all six units are completed and put into operation, the annual power generation will exceed 55 billion kilowatt-hours, CGN said. It will also reduce standard coal consumption by about 16.65 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 50.82 million tonnes annually.

]]> Second Taipingling unit starts up
Construction begins on fourth Taipingling unit
Fuel loading completed at two new Chinese units
First Taipingling unit enters commercial operation
Hot testing of second Taipingling unit completed

]]> true <![CDATA[Ampera says it has 3D-printed microreactor module]]>  ]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:46:55 GMT Ampera is developing subcritical thorium-based microreactor systems that are energy dense and do not require refuelling. Through its proprietary tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel platform, neutron-source technology and advanced additive manufacturing, it aims to deliver scalable, factory-built, rapidly deployable, emission-free power for data centres, defence, industrial and maritime applications.

The company's first nuclear module unit, which includes the core and pressure vessel, was unveiled on 1 July at Ampera's innovation centre in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with more than 100 people, including local officials, business leaders and employees, in attendance.

"This next-generation nuclear core and pressure vessel sets the foundation for factory-built, mass-produced nuclear energy," said Ampera founder and CEO Brian Matthews. "The advanced technology and additive manufacturing used demonstrate a clear commercial path for new nuclear technology coming to market in an accelerated manner."

Ampera's spherical monolithic gyroid core is 3D printed with silicon carbide and designed for up to 30 years of life without refuelling.

In June, Ampera announced it established an Australian subsidiary to secure thorium supply and support US advanced nuclear fuel production.

The company said its core-for-life, ultra-safe modular nuclear systems are built with inherent stability by design. Safety is achieved through core design and physics characteristics, reducing reliance on active systems and operator intervention. Ampera's nuclear systems are expected to provide up to 30 MWe of power, with larger configurations planned.

"Our reactors are built for the markets that need power the most: AI data centres, defence, industrial and maritime," Matthews said. "We expect to be the first company to industrialise factory-built nuclear power with near-term deployment timelines."

In February, Ampera submitted a formal letter to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicating its desire to begin the pre-application process for its factory-fabricated, containerised microreactor, and in April, it entered into a strategic collaboration with Monaco-based shipping company Scorpio Tankers Inc to jointly develop and commercialise advanced microreactors for marine, shipping and related maritime applications. The same month, Ampera opened its global headquarters in Florida. It has said it plans to produce TRISO thorium kernels at another location in the state.

]]> Australian thorium to fuel Ampera energy system
AMPERA, Scorpio team up for maritime microreactors

]]> true <![CDATA[Control room simulator launched for lead-cooled BREST-OD-300 reactor]]>  ]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:47:18 GMT The simulator - see picture above - is in the Educational, Training and Information Centre of the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk, Tomsk Oblast in Russia.

The new unit

The BREST-OD-300 fast reactor is part of Rosatom's Proryv, or Breakthrough, project to enable a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The 300 MWe unit will be the main facility of the Pilot Demonstration 抖阴传媒在线 Complex at the Siberian Chemical Combine site, which is part of Rosatom's TVEL fuel division. 

The complex will demonstrate an on-site closed nuclear fuel cycle with a facility for the fabrication/re-fabrication of mixed uranium-plutonium nitride nuclear fuel, as well as a used fuel reprocessing facility.

Construction of BREST-OD-300 began in June 2021. Recent progress updates included in May that concreting was taking place for the foundation of the turbine and generator, the news in October that the last roofing truss had been moved into place on the turbine hall and that the metal shell for the central cavity - which weighs 143 tonnes and is more than 14 metres tall with a diameter of 8 metres - had been installed. The four peripheral cavity shells were all installed during December. 

Endurance testing of the prototype main circulation pump unit for the reactor is ongoing - the unit will pump 11 tonnes of molten lead per second at a temperature exceeding 420 degrees Celsius. At the time of construction starting, the target date for completion was 2026.

Initial operation of the demonstration unit will be focused on performance and after 10 years or so it will be commercially oriented. The plan has been that if it is successful as a 300 MWe (700 MWt) unit, a 1,200 MWe (2,800 MWt) version will follow - the BR-1200.

The control room simulator

Evgeny Adamov, scientific director of the Breakthrough project, said there were no similar simulators in the world, because of the unique design of the new unit, so it would "become a key technical tool for personnel training and licensing".

It was built by JSC VNIIAES, part of Rosatom's electric power division, which has developed more than 40 simulators for various Russian-designed power units.

Konstantin Artemyev, director general of JSC VNIIAES, said: "For VNIIAES, creating a unique simulator for the future power unit presented a real challenge. Only the coordinated work of professionals from all participating organisations made it possible to overcome this challenge. Ultimately, the team created not just a simulator, but an adaptive simulation platform that will evolve alongside the brand-new fourth-generation power unit."

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 ]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Agreement could see prototype microreactor built at Berkeley]]>  ]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:23:05 GMT In September last year, a planning application was submitted for a new nuclear energy-focused facility on a brownfield site that was once part of the Berkeley nuclear power plant in south-west England. Planning and development consultancy Turley submitted the outline planning application for the proposal, which would feature nuclear and clean energy research and development facilities, on behalf of Chiltern Vital Berkeley (CVB), part of Chiltern Vital Group (CVG).

The site comprises a parcel of previously developed land which formed part of the wider Berkeley nuclear power station. It is currently occupied by the Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park, acquired by CVB in 2024, and has an established history for nuclear, employment and education uses. If approved, the development will offer up to 600,000 square feet (5.6 hectares) of new R&D, laboratory, office, manufacturing, and education facilities, creating up to 1,000 jobs.

CVB says it is in final-stage negotiations with multiple nuclear and energy technology companies wishing to locate on the Berkeley Green site.

Cambridge Atomworks has now announced that it has signed a letter of intent with CVG on building its prototype Odin microreactor on the site.

The Odin microreactor is described as "a low-pressure, molten-salt-cooled, solid-fuel fission reactor integrated with power conversion and heat rejection systems, enabling substantial and compact, standalone electricity supply without external connections". Cambridge Atomworks plans to have an operational prototype by 2030.

"Cambridge Atomworks agreeing to site their prototype research and development facility at Berkeley represents another important step forward for the development of the Berkeley Green Science and Technology Park by Chiltern Vital Berkeley as a global zero-carbon energy technology, education and training hub within the Severn Edge Nuclear Supercluster," said Chris Turner, CEO of CVG and CVB.

Cambridge Atomworks said the agreement with CVG was "a major step forward in the regulatory development of the Odin microreactor and will provide key answers about the combined physics and thermal hydraulics of the microreactor required by regulators across the world".

Cambridge Atomworks CEO Ian Farnan said: "After our physics demonstration campaign has been completed, our objective is to use the Berkeley-based prototype reactor as a training facility for our global workforce and the UK nuclear workforce. Currently, there is no reactor training facility for this purpose in the UK."

Cambridge Atomworks was established in 2023, developing the Odin microreactor for the US firm NANO Nuclear on an outsourced consulting basis. Last year it bought back the intellectual property, with a letter of intent signed last September. In March this year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering, management and development consultancy Mott MacDonald to work on the development of the Odin microreactor.

The company says the Odin microreactor is designed "with air as the ultimate heat sink and to be walk-away safe in any deployment scenario, ie, it does not need to be close to a water source. The reactor can be cooled via natural circulation both by the molten salt and the reactor auxiliary air cooling system".

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Criticality for fourth US microreactor to meet 4 July deadline]]>  ]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:31:49 GMT Austin, Texas-based Aalo was named in August last year by the Department of 抖阴传媒在线 (DOE) as one of 11 advanced reactor projects initially selected for support through its Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, which aimed to see at least three of them achieve criticality by 4 July this year. The Reactor Pilot Program leverages DOE authorisation to expeditiously certify and construct first-of-a-kind advanced reactor designs for demonstration. The initiative is part of the Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of 抖阴传媒在线 executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May 2025. 

Two weeks after being selected, the company broke ground on a plot of land at the border of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to start construction of its first experimental extra modular nuclear reactor, the Aalo-X - a low-enriched uranium–fueled, sodium-cooled reactor.

Aalo announced that its Critical Test Reactor (CTR) achieved criticality at 00:20 (local time) on 4 July.

Criticality is the point at which a nuclear reactor sustains a controlled, self-supporting chain reaction. Although the initial criticality was achieved with a full-scale core load, this was a zero-power criticality.

"Our CTR went from groundbreaking to a sustained chain reaction in less than eight months - one of the fastest reactor builds in 80 years - and our company has gone from founding to fission in less than three years," Aalo said. "The CTR includes a full-scale core, demonstrating the nuclear components of our 10 MWe reactors, which will be deployed in 50 MWe Aalo Pods to power AI data centres.

"Criticality has validated our supply chain, reactor physics, control systems, and fueling procedures at commercial scale. We are now expanding into a one-million-square-foot factory to apply assembly-line manufacturing to reactor production, which will open the door to mass-producing the Aalo Pod, our fully modular nuclear plant purpose-built for AI data centres."

The company said it has already begun work on its second nuclear reactor for Project Ascension, a commercial-scale system located on the Aalo-X Campus at INL. The plan is for the new reactor to produce 10 MWe of electricity and power an on-site data centre in 2027.

"The hardest problem in nuclear was never the physics, our country simply forgot how to build. The success of the Department of 抖阴传媒在线 Reactor Pilot Program is proof America can execute again," said Yasir Arafat, President and CTO, Aalo Atomics. "We are proud to play a major role in America's nuclear renaissance."

Welcoming the milestone, US 抖阴传媒在线 Secretary Chris Wright said: "Last month I toured the Aalo facility at Idaho National Laboratory and was impressed by the company's determination to successfully demonstrate their technology by the Fourth of July. President Trump asked for three advanced reactors to be authorised and achieve criticality by the 250th anniversary of our great country. I'm pleased to share that through the dedication and hard work of Aalo, INL and DOE, we have surpassed that ask and delivered four."

Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor became the first to reach initial criticality in early June, closely followed by Valar Atomics' Ward 250 reactor. Deployable 抖阴传媒在线's Unity demonstration reactor achieved criticality on 1 July.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Dukovany project on schedule, says Czech ministry's progress report]]>  ]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:47:51 GMT In the department's update on progress in the year since the contract with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was signed for two new nuclear units near the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant, it says the current first phase - due to last four years - "is primarily focused on developing project and licensing documentation, obtaining all necessary permits and ensuring the necessary infrastructure for the start of construction. This is expected to happen in 2029".

The geological drilling involved hundreds of exploratory wells, followed by laboratory testing of samples and a final report stretching to more than 6,000 pages, which will also form the basis for the creation of a 3D model of the site.

KHNP submitted the conceptual design in April for the overall power plant which includes "all changes compared with the standard APR1000 project solution, resulting from the need to take into account the legislative environment of the Czech Republic, specific conditions at the site and the investor's requirements defined in the contract". It is currently open for comments before the next, more detailed stage of documentation.

On the supply chain side, 膶EZ Energetické projekty carried out the geological survey work, Doosan Škoda Power was awarded the contract for turbogenerators and Energoprojekt Praha will provide professional consulting services, including for licensing and project documentation. A registration system has also been established for potential Czech and South Korean suppliers.

There have been four training days held, focusing on the APR1000 technology, plus work is being carried out on infrastructure - including bypasses - and the provision of accommodation for the expected 10,000 workers at the site during peak construction.

Petr Závodský, director general of project company Elektrárna Dukovany II, said: "Many thanks to all colleagues and Czech and Korean partners for how smoothly we managed to set up cooperation. I believe that we will continue to proceed in a similarly effective manner." He added: "The preparatory phase is always a bit thankless, because it is not much visible from the outside, but it is absolutely crucial for the subsequent construction to proceed smoothly."

During the second half of the year, the project aims to issue a tender for the supply of cooling towers. Work on an archaeological survey is also under way and a six-floor project company administrative building should also be completed.

To mark the anniversary of signing contracts, KHNP CEO Kim Hoe-chun, joined the industry ministers from the two countries last month to review progress in the Dukovany region and hold a Korea-Czech nuclear industry partnership event in Prague.


(Image: Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade)

Kim said: "KHNP will work closely with the Czech government, the project company, local communities and Czech companies to make this project one of the safest and most successful nuclear power plant construction projects in the world."

The Czech-Korean steering committee for the project met for a second time, with the Czech trade and industry ministry reporting that the construction of the nuclear power plant "is proceeding according to the set schedule. Further steps and activities, including the involvement of Czech industry were also discussed".

South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources, Kim Jung-Kwan, said: "Our goal is to ensure the smooth progress of this strategic project and we are pleased that it is proceeding according to the agreed schedule. We consider effective cooperation between the governments of the Korean and Czech Republics and our industries across sectors to be very significant and beneficial for both countries."

Background

The Czech government selected KHNP as its preferred bidder in July 2024 for two new units near the current Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant, about 200 kilometres southeast of Prague. Two more units at the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant are also being considered.

As well as the engineering, procurement and construction contract signed in June 2025, the agreement also includes the supply of nuclear fuel for about a decade - the initial fuel load and five reloads.

The project owner is Dukovany II Nuclear Power Plant, which is 80% owned by the Czech Government and 20% by CEZ, which operates the country's existing nuclear power plants. The cost of the project was said to be CZK407 billion (USD18.6 billion).

]]> ]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Deep Fission receives prototype reactor canister]]>  ]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:55:49 GMT Deep Fission said the arrival of the canister "marks a key milestone in the company's proof-of-concept well programme and its Gravity Nuclear Reactor development ... the factory-built prototype canister completed fabrication, hydrostatic testing, and delivery to Kansas, representing tangible progress toward validating installation, infrastructure readiness, and operational sequencing for the company's first commercial demonstration well".

The proof-of-concept well is Deep Fission's nearly full-scale validation programme, designed to demonstrate a larger-diameter borehole and end-to-end installation workflow using commercial-grade, non-nuclear components prior to fuel loading. The programme is intended to validate each stage of underground deployment under real-world conditions while confirming engineering assumptions at scale and supporting the company's broader commercialisation timeline.

Deep Fission broke ground in December at the Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons for its pilot project and plans to build a full-scale commercial plant there following the test reactor demonstration. The company said it is advancing permitting with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for the non-nuclear borehole.

"The arrival of our prototype reactor canister at the Kansas site is a clear step forward in moving from design to deployed infrastructure," said Mark Pérès, Deep Fission's Chief Nuclear Officer. "Successfully manufacturing, testing, and delivering this hardware demonstrates performance of our design and supply chain capabilities. Upcoming testing using this hardware will validate our approach and provide valuable learnings as we assemble, install and test key systems under non-nuclear conditions in our large diameter borehole."

The company is also progressing development of its full-scale nuclear demonstration borehole and advancing design of its primary heat exchanger. "These parallel efforts support a phased strategy to accelerate iterative validation of the most unique aspects of Deep Fission's commercial deployment model," it said.

Background

Deep Fission's Gravity reactor is a small modular reactor designed to be placed underground in an optimised borehole one mile (1.6 km) deep. Using traditional pressurised water reactor technology and low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, each reactor will generate 15 MWe, the company says, while its small footprint and dense power output means it will need a fraction of the land needed for traditional surface nuclear: ten reactors on the same site would deliver 150 MWe, or 100 reactors would produce 1.5 GWe. In this design, thermal energy is transferred through a closed-loop system from the reactor canister to a heat exchanger, then rises to the surface in a secondary closed-loop for conversion into electricity, like a geothermal system. The company says passive shielding and natural containment offered by the surrounding geology, and the combination of mature technologies from the nuclear, oil and gas, and geothermal industries, while using off-the-shelf parts and readily available LEU fuel, aims to improve safety and security and enable a faster, more cost-effective path to deployment.

In August last year, Deep Fission was one of 10 companies selected by the US Department of 抖阴传媒在线 to receive support under its Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program.

Deep Fission was founded in 2023 by father-daughter team Elizabeth and Richard Muller, who also co-founded Deep Isolation in 2016 to develop the concept of placing canisters of radioactive waste hundreds of metres underground via a borehole.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Trilateral cooperation agreement on SMR deployment]]>  ]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:06:46 GMT The memorandum was signed on Tuesday on the margins of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, and South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

The memorandum "outlines opportunities for our three countries, which have complementary advantages in the civil nuclear field, to encourage mutually beneficial cooperation among their respective nuclear industries", the US Department of State said. "This framework aims to foster fleet deployment models that de-risk project development, achieve economies of scale, catalyse private investment, streamline licensing processes, and optimise supply chains.

"A coordinated trilateral approach positions American, Japanese, and Korean firms to provide partners in the region with more competitive alternatives to meet their growing energy demands and to uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, and non-proliferation as new reactor technology increasingly comes online."

Under the memorandum, the three countries will identify third-party countries that are interested in small modular reactors (SMRs) in the Indo-Pacific region and will support the construction of multiple SMRs through a standard fleet and simplified contracting procedures. For that purpose, the partners will encourage the formation of consortiums by their respective nuclear industries and foster project development through mobilising financing and investment.

In support of this initiative, the USA is committing more than USD10 million in new funding for the Department of State's Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (FIRST) programme to provide technical support to countries in the Indo-Pacific region for the deployment of safe, secure, and reliable nuclear energy. It said the funds would advance SMR project development activities and establish an SMR Regional Training Hub for workforce development.

European BWRX-300 deployment

The USA also announced an industry initiative agreed upon by GE Vernova of the USA, Japan's Hitachi, Samsung C&T of South Korea, and Poland's SGE to advance deployment of the BWRX-300 SMR design across Europe. "This initiative will help achieve the ambitions set forth in the memorandum signed today and deepen government-industry partnerships to strengthen global energy security," the Department of State said.

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线's (GVH's) US Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor design and its existing, licensed GNF2 fuel design. GVH's first BWRX-300 is under construction at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, with completion expected by the end of the decade.

SGE - part of the MS Galleon Group - is a co-investor in the standard design for the BWRX-300 and is in the process of establishing SMR partnerships and projects in a number of Central and Eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Its flagship project is being implemented in Poland in collaboration with Orlen, with work under way at three sites and the first unit expected to be commissioned in 2032.

Last week, SGE and a deployment team including Samsung C&T, Laing O'Rourke, Aecon Group and Google Cloud outlined plans for the privately financed deployment of 14 BWRX-300 SMRs across three sites in the UK. SGE submitted the application under the UK's Advanced Nuclear Framework for reactors which could provide 4.2 GW of capacity, equivalent to 11% of current UK power demand.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Reactor vessel installed in El Dabaa's second unit]]>  ]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:25:05 GMT The milestone moment comes seven months after the reactor pressure vessel was installed in the first unit - which Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said reflected the accelerated pace of progress on the project.

According to Strana Rosatom, Likhachev said: "More than 25,000 people are working on the construction site daily, over 18,000 of whom are Egyptian citizens. We will increase our workforce, and in the coming weeks, the number of workers should reach 30,000. Together with our Egyptian partners, we are making every effort to ensure the site is ready for the delivery of the first nuclear fuel in the first half of 2027 and the connection of the power units to the grid in 2028." He added that the next stage of work would be the welding of pipelines for the reactor's main cooling system.

Egypt's Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, was among those attending the event, alongside International Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, pictured below.


(Image: Egyptian government/Facebook)


(Image: Egyptian government/Facebook)

The 330-tonne reactor vessel is about 13 metres long and 4.5 metres in diameter. The service life is for an initial 60 years, with possible extension to 80 years. It was delivered from Volgodonsk in Russia to El Dabaa in May as part of what Rosatom called the .


(Image: Rosatom)


鈥(Image: Rosatom)

The cylindrical steel reactor vessel, which houses the reactor core, ensures a hermetic seal and withstands high pressures and temperatures, ensuring the safety and reliability of the power unit.

Background

El Dabaa will be Egypt's first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa's Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project, about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo, will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.

Under the 2017 contracts, Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle, including building a storage facility and supplying containers for storing used nuclear fuel. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom has said it is aiming for a future service life of up to 100 years for nuclear power plants.

The four units are being built almost concurrently, with first concrete at unit 1 in July 2022, followed in turn by the others, concluding with first concrete at unit 4 in January 2024. Egypt's aim is for 9% of electricity to be generated by nuclear by 2030, which would be achieved by the commercial operation of the first two units by that time, directly displacing oil and gas.

]]> ]]>  ]]> true <![CDATA[Argentina announces privately-financed SMR plan]]>  ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 06:14:50 GMT In a post on the X social media site the President's Official Spokesman said: "This is the first commercial version of this reactor, the first nuclear reactor financed 100% with private capital, and the largest investment in the history of the Argentine nuclear sector.

"The project envisions the creation of 2,000 direct jobs during the development, construction, commissioning, and operation stages, thereby generating an expansion of the nuclear sector like never before. This investment is the result of the modernisation of the nuclear sector and the joint work of government authorities."

The proposal is to build an ACR-300 small modular reactor, which has been under development by Argentina's INVAP and which is described as using "proven light鈥憌ater technology ... [with the] lowest physical construction burden per megawatt among grid鈥憇cale SMRs".

Secretary of Nuclear Affairs Federico Ramos Napoli, also writing on X, said: "Argentina has more than 70 years of nuclear track record, top-level institutions, and talent recognised worldwide. That a private company chooses our country to build its first reactor confirms that this technical capital, with the right conditions, turns into investment, jobs, and baseload clean energy."

Economy Minister Luis Caputo, posted a picture on X of the meeting with Meitner 抖阴传媒在线 executives (see above), and said: "The project will have an estimated investment of USD1.2 billion and will be funded through US private capital based on an Argentine patent. It involves the ACR-300, an SMR reactor of Generation III+ and PWR technology, with an approximate power output of 300 MWe. This project will create around 2,000 direct jobs during the development, construction, commissioning, and operation phases."

Last year's national nuclear plan for Argentina included four of the ACR-300 SMRs to be located at the Atucha Nuclear Power Plant site. It said at the time it expected that the ACR-300 would have a construction timeline of five years.

Argentina currently has three operable nuclear power units - Atucha 1, connected in 1974, Atucha 2, which was connected in 2014 and Embalse which was connected to the grid in 1983. Between them they generate about 5% of the country's electricity. There had been plans for a fourth unit, as Atucha III, but it appears that has been superseded by the SMR plans.

Argentina has already had an SMR in development: the CAREM SMR - the name comes from Central Argentina de Elementos Modulares - a 32 MWe prototype and is Argentina's first domestically designed and developed nuclear power unit. First concrete was poured in 2014, but construction has since been suspended a number of times, most recently when about two-thirds complete. Work on it is widely reported to be currently halted and the privately financed ACR-300 SMR was described as "the centrepiece of the Nuclear Power Plan" last year.

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]]> true <![CDATA[First commercial nuclear-powered satellite launched]]>  ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:48:27 GMT City Labs specialises in designing, developing, and manufacturing advanced nuclear micropower technology based on tritium, enabling long-life, maintenance-free power for medical, industrial, and space applications. Its NanoTritium platform delivers reliable micropower where conventional energy sources are impractical.

The company's Betavoltaic Orbital High-Reliability (BOHR) satellite was among 81 payloads delivered in the 17th Transporter rideshare mission by Falcon 9, a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world's first orbital-class reusable rocket.

City Labs said the BOHR mission demonstrates its proprietary NanoTritium betavoltaic technology in orbit as a dedicated payload power source, providing continuous, long-duration electrical power independent of solar energy. "This milestone establishes a new class of spacecraft capabilities, enabling persistent operation of critical subsystems where traditional power systems fall short," it said. "This includes deep space, permanently shadowed lunar regions, and long-duration autonomous sensor networks."

The BOHR satellite utilises conventional solar power for satellite bus operations, while the NanoTritium system is used to power and validate the payload demonstration.

"This is a historic step for commercial nuclear power in space," said City Labs CEO Peter Cabauy. "BOHR demonstrates that safe, compact, and regulatory-approved nuclear power systems are ready for routine commercial deployment. This capability enables persistent, always-on payload operations that are not constrained by sunlight or battery life."

The BOHR satellite is the first commercial nuclear mission to exercise the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pathway for nuclear launch approval as laid out in National Security Presidential Memorandum-20. The launch safety analysis was prepared by City Labs and independently reviewed, validated, and supported in regulatory engagement by Sandia National Laboratories.

On 30 September last year, the FAA issued its affirmative payload authorisation for the BOHR mission, marking a key regulatory milestone for the commercial use of nuclear materials in spaceflight.

City Labs says its tritium-based power systems operate at extremely low radiation levels and are engineered for safe handling, transportation, and integration within standard commercial launch environments. "The BOHR mission serves as a pathfinder for future nuclear-powered spacecraft supporting both civil and national security missions," it said.

]]> true <![CDATA[IAEA highlights Uzbekistan's nuclear infrastructure progress]]>  ]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:41:27 GMT Uzbekistan has embarked on its first nuclear power plant with Russia, which will feature two RITM-200N small modular reactors and two VVER-1000 large reactors. Concrete was poured for the first SMR last month, marking the official start of construction.

The follow-up IAEA Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review mission, which comprised experts from Brazil, Turkey and two IAEA staff, took place from 22 to 26 June and reviewed progress since a previous mission in 2021.

Mission team leader John Haddad, of the IAEA's Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section, said: "Uzbekistan has demonstrated commitment to develop a safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power programme. It has worked actively to address the recommendations and suggestions from the 2021 mission and develop a sound infrastructure for the implementation stage of its programme."

He added: "The world is eager to learn from Uzbekistan's experience in nuclear power plant construction. Uzbekistan is one of the few countries building small modular reactors outside the country where they are built. This experience will be invaluable. Everyone will be watching you: how you did it, what you accomplished, and what lessons you learned. Get ready to play a significant role in the global nuclear landscape."

The IAEA said the mission praised progress made in Uzbekistan, saying the country had "joined the relevant international legal instruments, revised its national nuclear legislation, and developed its regulations for licensing and oversight, management systems and the necessary electrical grid studies and enhancement plans".

It also noted that "further work is needed to complete ongoing actions to strengthen the nuclear regulatory body and finalise feasibility studies".

Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency - Uzatom - Director Azim Akhmedkhadjaev said the mission was "a vital tool for open professional dialogue, allowing us to objectively assess the ongoing work to develop our national nuclear infrastructure, compare the results achieved with international standards and IAEA recommendations, and identify further practical steps".

Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review missions are held at the invitation of the host country and are based on the IAEA's Milestones Approach "with its 19 infrastructure issues, three phases (consider, prepare and construct) and three milestones (decide, contract and operate)".

Following the mission, the preliminary report was submitted to the Uzbek side. It will be reviewed and a final report published by the IAEA in due course.

Background

Uzbekistan has a long nuclear-related history with considerable mineral deposits - it is the world’s fifth-ranking uranium supplier. It has also had two research reactors, a 10 MW tank type - WWR-SM - which has been operating since 1959 at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Uzbek Academy of Sciences near Tashkent, and a small 20 kW one operated by JSC Foton in Tashkent which was decommissioned between 2015-19.

It has had long-term plans to develop nuclear energy capacity and a contract was signed in May 2024, during a visit to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was originally for the construction of a 330 MW capacity nuclear power plant featuring six units of the RITM-200N water-cooled small modular reactor (SMR), which is adapted from nuclear-powered icebreakers' technology, with thermal power of 190 MW or 55 MWe and with an intended service life of 60 years. The first unit was scheduled to go critical in late 2029 with units commissioned one by one.

In 2025, a supplemental agreement to the contract for the new nuclear power plant - in the Jizzakh region - covered the decision to change its contents to two gigawatt-scale VVER-1000 units and two SMRs. This increased the proposed capacity to more than 2,100 MWe, compared with the previous 330 MWe.

Excavation work began in October last year for the pit for the first of the SMRs at the site. About 1.5 million cubic metres of soil were excavated during the digging of a pit 13 metres deep. In March this year, Rosatom said that about 900 cubic metres were being poured during the concrete foundation work for the reactor building. That was due for completion in April and it said that the foundation has since been levelled and waterproofed before the pouring of the first concrete for the reactor building's foundation slab, which took place in June. It is the first export order for Russia's SMR. The first land-based version is currently being built in Yakut, Russia, with the launch of the first unit scheduled for 2027.

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 ]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Nuclear can play its part in decarbonising shipping, says IMO chief]]>  ]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:32:11 GMT Speaking at the Accelerating Nuclear for 抖阴传媒在线 Generation and Shipping conference in London, he said that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had a long-standing agnostic view on the different fueling options to decarbonise shipping, subject to retaining the key goals of "safe, secure and environmentally-sound shipping".

He said that in looking at fuels as a source of energy "we're starting with the life-cycle assessment. In the recent discussions this year, there was a lot of interest in nuclear propulsion, whether it's going to be propulsion that will support shipping from the shore or the ports' infrastructure, providing clean energy, or is it going to be on-board vessels. Now, we don't have the answer to that. But we're open to all the development, the technical aspects, the practicalities of how this can become a reality".

The main goal of the IMO, he said, was ensuring safety and security in shipping, and said the organisation would be partnering with the International Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency on the ATLAS (Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea) project which is due to launch in August in the USA.

"We need to review the safety code for nuclear vessels that was adopted back in 1981," he told the conference, organised by Core Power, on 17 June. "It is in the pipeline and there is a lot interest in the IMO on how this work is going to progress."

He said that work towards decarbonisation was already under way with interim guidelines for the use of fuels such as ammonia, hydrogen and methanol. "Nuclear is the next step - it's been discussed together with renewable energy sources, like solar batteries and wind. But I can tell you that the main focus of the discussions this year were actually on nuclear and how we're going to take that next step forward."

One area that he highlighted was the need to provide training for seafarers, so that the safety aspects of nuclear propulsion can be discussed alongside the training requirements. A further issue was a liability convention, which is currently being worked on for autonomous vessels, with plans for one for alternative fuels.

Dominguez also said that an important area was "how we're going to deal with public perception … somehow, when we talk about nuclear, especially what's happening right now, it tends to be linked to conflict, and that's not what we want. But the sooner we go out and demonstrate, not only the benefits or how we also address any safety concerns, the quicker they will help us to bring civil society on board with us". As an example he said that many ports around the world had initially resisted the idea of liquefied natural gas propulsion, but those concerns had been transformed.

"So it's how we engage not only the people in the sector, not only those that know what we're talking about, but how we take it to those who have a different perspective and point of view," he said.

And linked to that idea of needing "to bring everyone involved" together, he said that shipping was a global industry and needs global regulations. Developing countries needed to be involved in the discussions about the transition and the benefits that could flow from nuclear propulsion.

Core Power CEO Mikal Bøe said he had been steering a mission to mainstream maritime nuclear for almost a decade and watched it grow and "become the only long-term viable solution … to meet both the environmental challenges and the economic challenges that we face".

He said that a rethink was needed on the idea of "shutting down industrial production, exporting emissions overseas and ceding energy security in the name of net zero". Nuclear energy is "a central pillar of protecting the planet and the prosperity of future generations", he said.

He added that they were encouraging governments, non-governmental organisations and the IMO and International Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency to revise and modernise the safety and security standards to include floating nuclear power plants and nuclear ships. 

"We've learnt that there are key conditions embedded in the regulatory framework and the law, that must sit at the centre of every concept of operations. Some come from the maritime side, whilst others come from the nuclear side. Now we're blending those together into a perfectly logical framework for licensing, export controls and nuclear safeguards … the entire system of how that is actually going to work. This is a framework which has never existed before, laying the foundation for maritime nuclear in a truly modern context.

"The resulting harmonised regulatory framework for maritime nuclear will become the platform on which an entire new industry … can strive to solve our climate challenge and boost our economic competitiveness … and those conditions will dictate how business models are developed for ship-based nuclear power and nuclear ships."


(Image: Core Power)

At the same event Core Power announced it had launched a feasibility study into using BWX Technologies' mPower small modular reactors in floating nuclear power plants (see picture above for how one might look).

The mPower small modular reactor (SMR) is an integral pressurised light-water design with 195 MWe or 575 MWt capacity. The feasibility study "will cover baseline information exchange, systems engineering, concept of operations development, product requirements definition, regulatory pathway assessment, marine integration studies and techno-economic analysis".

The IAEA says the ATLAS project aims to bring the maritime and nuclear industries together "to identify and address the key challenges and obstacles to using civil nuclear applications at sea, which will support Member State establishment of a robust framework that promotes and supports the deployment of these technologies. This could include recommendations for revisions to IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and strengthening international cooperation to ensure effective safety, security, and safeguards throughout the lifetime of such vessels and facilities".

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]]> true <![CDATA[International safety review of Finnish SMR design completed]]>  ]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:06:36 GMT The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) conducted a preliminary safety assessment of the LDR-50 last year. In June 2025, STUK said the draft concept assessment for Steady 抖阴传媒在线's LDR-50 found that "nuclear and radiation safety, security arrangements, emergency arrangements and nuclear material safeguards solutions are such that they can be designed to meet safety requirements". Concept assessment is a procedure proposed in the new Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线 Act in which STUK assesses whether the power plant could meet safety requirements in general terms. It is separate to the construction permit process for the nuclear power plant. STUK said it used the draft concept as a basis for its assessment.

STUK launched the Joint Early Review of the LDR-50 concept in October 2025 with the nuclear safety authorities of four countries: the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB) - together with its technical safety organisation State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC NRS) and the State Institute of Radiation Protection (SURO) - Poland's National Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency (PAA), the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM), and the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU). The review made use of the early assessment of the plant concept completed by STUK.

The review is a voluntary cooperation process in which each authority independently assessed the plant concept based on its national requirements. The review is not part of the licensing procedure and does not produce binding decisions or a joint position on the plant concept. The key objective of the review is to support nuclear facility design at an early stage and to provide non-binding feedback to support the facility design process.

STUK has now published compiling the key observations and experiences related to the plant concept by the nuclear safety authorities. It noted the conclusions drawn by the authorities in different countries were broadly in line with each other.

Several strengths were identified in the safety solutions of the LDR-50 nuclear power plant concept, such as a defence-in-depth safety approach (several successive safety levels that secure each other) and the utilisation of passive safety solutions. In the early planning phase, the concept was considered largely appropriate, but not yet sufficient from a licensing perspective.

None of the authorities involved in the Joint Early Review identified any fundamental obstacles in the areas examined that would prevent the further development of the concept. At the same time, the reviews emphasised that the actual licensing phases require significantly more detailed analyses, justifications and more detailed planning, for example in connection with safety analyses, handling of emergencies and plant-level impacts.

"The work showed that leveraging a national safety assessment in other countries is not straightforward but requires significant preparations and clear approaches," said Teemu Soukki, inspector responsible for the project at STUK. "Making leverage possible must be taken into consideration already at the point of preparing the national assessment."

Steady 抖阴传媒在线 was spun out of Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre in 2023. The LDR-50 SMR, with a thermal output of 50 MW, is designed to operate at around 150°C. Unlike most SMRs being developed around the world, it is not designed to generate electricity - or electricity and heat. Instead, it is designed to only produce heat and is focused on district heating, as well as industrial steam production and desalination projects.

Welcoming the completion of the Joint Early Review, Steady 抖阴传媒在线 CEO Tommi Nyman said: "This is a highly encouraging outcome for Steady 抖阴传媒在线. Our ambition is to bring the LDR-50 to international markets, and it is a very positive signal that the nuclear safety authorities participating in the review did not identify any fundamental obstacles to implementing the reactor concept in accordance with their national safety requirements."

The company has already signed agreements for 15 reactors in Finland, with its reactor design currently being assessed by STUK. The aim is for construction of the first plant - to be the clean energy source for a district heating scheme - to begin in 2029.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Fresh look needed at licensing approach for small reactors - Likhachev]]>  ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:16:33 GMT In comments carried by Russia's state nuclear corporation's Strana Rosatom publication, Likhachev said: "The rapid activation of the US administration and developers is a clear example that forecasts for accelerated development of nuclear energy worldwide are not empty hypotheses, but a real process unfolding before our eyes. We congratulate our American colleagues … at the same time, we understand that these are more experimental setups than fully-fledged power plants. Based on our experience, we can confidently say that refining these designs to commercial implementation will take years."

He said that with a range of new small and micro modular reactors being developed, featuring new technologies, regulatory caution was understandable. But he said "excessive conservatism is declining globally … the success of the American nuclear industry is not only the result of individual developers and manufacturers, but also of a national regulator that is accommodating to companies. As for Russia, if we want to continue to win the competition in the nuclear energy market, now in the small and medium-sized sectors, we also need to take a fresh look at licensing approaches for such installations. This is a task of national importance".

He also gave an update on the development work on the Shelf-M microreactor, an integral nuclear power plant with a pressurised water reactor capable of generating 10 MWe/35 MWt and designed to supply power for the Sovinoye gold deposit in Chukotka in Russia's far east. It would need refuelling every eight years and have a 60-year design life. In 2022, the aim was for it to enter commercial operation in 2030.

"Currently the … construction schedule has been developed, engineering surveys for the site have begun, and the nuclear fuel lifespan testing phase has been completed. The project's investment justification is nearing completion," he said.

Likhachev added that "around a dozen reactor designs for small nuclear power plants are at various stages of development and implementation. Our most advanced technology, our best-selling product, is the RITM family of reactors for floating and land-based nuclear power plants of varying capacities. We already have 13 RITM reactors of varying capacities under our belt for the country's nuclear icebreaker fleet. One reactor - the 14th - has already been produced for the lead new floating power unit for the Baimskoye field, and a second is in the final stages of production".

The US microreactor programme

The US Department of 抖阴传媒在线's Reactor Pilot Program, announced in June 2025, aimed to expedite the testing of advanced reactor designs that will be authorised by the Department at sites located outside of the national laboratories. Part of the Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of 抖阴传媒在线 executive order signed by President Donald Trump in May last year, its goal was "to construct, operate, and achieve criticality of at least three test reactors using the DOE authorisation process by July 4, 2026".

Criticality means that the reactor has achieved a sustained nuclear chain reaction, with each fission event - when an atom of uranium in the fuel is split - releasing a sufficient number of neutrons to sustain an ongoing series of reactions. In a nuclear power reactor, the heat energy from those fission reactions is used to produce steam and generate electricity. Zero-power - or "cold" - criticality is a self-sustaining chain reaction of uranium-235 within a nuclear core, but without reaching full operating temperatures or actively removing heat with a working fluid.

In June Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 reactor completed a zero-power fuelled criticality demonstration, to become the first of the programme’s reactors to meet the pre-4 July deadline. That was followed later in the month by Valar Atomics' Ward 250 advanced reactor completing a zero-power fuelled criticality demonstration. And then last week Deployable 抖阴传媒在线's Unity demonstration reactor achieved initial criticality at the National Reactor Innovation Center located at Idaho National Laboratory.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[NRC exempts Westinghouse from design certification renewal rule]]>  ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:06:16 GMT The regulator first certified the AP1000 design in 2006. That certification is valid until 2046. 

Under current rules, companies can only apply for the renewal of a design certificate "not less than 12 nor more than 36 months before the expiration of the initial 40-year period".

On 7 April, Westinghouse submitted a request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeking a 40-year renewal of the certification while incorporating design changes approved during the construction and licensing of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, many of which represented departures from the original certified design. The submittal of Revision 20 of the AP1000 Design Control Document (DCD) to the NRC is part of Westinghouse's strategic plan to enable a fleet-scale deployment of the advanced AP1000 modular reactor and support President Donald Trump's vision to build a US fleet of large nuclear reactors, the company said. In order to apply for the early renewal of the AP1000 design certification (DC), Westinghouse submitted a request for exemption from the scheduling requirements of 10 CFR 52.57(a).

On 27 April, the NRC staff determined the exemption request contained sufficient information for the NRC staff to initiate a detailed technical review and accepted the exemption request for docketing. This exemption request has been considered separately from the AP1000 design certification renewal request and associated amendment.

The NRC has now determined that, pursuant to relevant regulation, "the exemption is authorised by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with the common defence and security". It noted that delaying submission of the AP1000 design certification renewal application until 2043 could lead to inefficiencies for both the NRC staff and applicants in connection with future combined licence application submittals that reference the AP1000 design certification.

"Therefore, the Commission hereby grants Westinghouse a one-time exemption from the requirement in 10 CFR 52.57(a) that an application for renewal of a DC must be submitted not less than 12 nor more than 36 months before expiration of the initial 40-year period, such that Westinghouse may apply for renewal of the AP1000 DC more than 36 months before the expiration of the initial 40-year period," the NRC said in a .

In addition to the Vogtle units, Westinghouse says four AP1000 reactors are currently in operation in China, with 12 additional reactors under construction. The design has been localised in China as the CAP1000.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Oil and mining giants among firms exploring nuclear's industrial use potential]]>  ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:53:23 GMT The consortium was launched last year by The Open Group, a global vendor-neutral technology and standards organisation, with founder members also including ConocoPhillips, Freeport-McMoRan and steel producer Nucor. The report focuses on the hard-to-decarbonise sectors of offshore energy, refining and petrochemicals, mining and energy-intensive manufacturing.

Industrial end users make up the consortium, with the aiming to "demonstrate how modular nuclear solutions can be deployed at varying scales and environments, from remote, off鈥慻rid operations to large industrial hubs, delivering high鈥憆eliability baseload energy - at the same time as reducing exposure to volatile fuel costs and grid instability".

Mohan Kalyanaraman, Technology Acquisition Advisor, ExxonMobil said: "The Industrial Advanced Nuclear Consortium was formed to unlock the potential of advanced nuclear for industrial applications - bringing together end users to clearly define what industry needs from nuclear. Our goal is to aggregate and communicate those requirements to enable solutions that can deliver both heat and power reliably and at scale, with the aim of making nuclear a viable option for industrial projects by 2030."

Steve Nunn, President and CEO, The Open Group, said: "This first set of application scenarios provides a clear end鈥憉ser perspective on where and how advanced nuclear can be deployed - detailing real energy needs, operational requirements, and integration challenges. By sharing this aggregated view, we aim to help the nuclear industry better understand and respond to industrial demand."

The report focuses in particular on the potential for small and micro modular reactors (SMRs/MMRs) which "can fill the requirement of a low-carbon baseload heat and power source by acting as nuclear boilers and behind鈥恡he鈥恗eter generators that integrate directly with industrial energy systems. In petrochemical complexes, refineries, and LNG facilities, nuclear heat can displace gas鈥恌ired cogeneration and boilers supplying high鈥恟eliability steam and electricity while reducing consumption of natural gas. Offshore, nuclear modules on floating production, storage, and offloading, or dedicated platforms can replace turbines powered by produced鈥恎as and provide stable power and low鈥恎rade process heat for decades without the emissions and maintenance profile of conventional generation. In remote mining and upstream fields, modular nuclear offers a way to address the constraints of limited grid capacity, intermittent wind/solar resources, and high logistics costs associated with diesel, LNG, or Compressed Natural Gas fuels."

It also notes the variation in scale of potential applications: "At one end of the spectrum, MMRs can provide a few megawatts of electricity and modest low鈥恡emperature heat to remote well pads, central oil鈥恮ater processing facilities, or small industrial sites, with the ability to relocate units as fields mature or developments shift. At the other end, multi鈥恗odule SMR configurations can support large, integrated refineries, petrochemical hubs, and major mining operations requiring combined electrical and thermal loads in the hundreds of megawatts. Maritime concepts extend this modularity offshore, where nuclear platforms or barge鈥恇ased units can serve multiple facilities over multi鈥恉ecade field life."

The report says: "In summary, heavy industrial sectors - including refining, petrochemicals, LNG, mining, upstream O&G, and maritime operations - depend on continuous, high鈥恟eliability heat and power that is currently supplied by fossil fuel-based systems, resulting in carbon emissions, fuel price volatility, and grid risks. To credibly achieve a low鈥恈arbon future for industry, modular nuclear represents a compelling option in the portfolio of available solutions. Advances in SMRs and MMRs open the potential for modular nuclear to be a practical, low鈥恈arbon alternative that can be co-located with industrial facilities to provide dependable baseload heat and power, with the grid and renewables serving complementary roles."

The four application scenarios said to be most relevant to the consortium members are: Maritime heat and power; Nuclear cogeneration of heat and power for refining, petrochemicals, LNG; Remote power and heat for O&G exploration and production, mining; Electricity-intensive industrial loads - aluminum smelter and steelmaking.

The consortium says its next steps will be "to define the technical architectures for these scenarios" as well as look at the regulatory considerations, technical integration challenges and business and commercial models to enable deployment. It says the consortium will engage "across the full nuclear and industrial ecosystem: end users, EPCs, utilities, technology developers, suppliers, regulators, academia, national labs, policymakers, finance, and many more".

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]]> true <![CDATA[Former managers call for restart of German nuclear power plants]]>  ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:15:25 GMT "Reactivated nuclear power plants offer an opportunity to return to competitive industrial electricity prices, including grid fees, in Germany in the medium term and to secure Germany's energy supply through diversification, without conflicting with European climate targets," says the letter, which is addressed to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche and the chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group Jens Spahn.

"Furthermore, the repair and reactivation of existing plants is essential for maintaining expertise in this field in Germany and thus ensuring its compatibility with future technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and nuclear fusion. Regarding the readiness of industry and personnel, it should be noted that German-designed and similar nuclear power plants are in operation or under construction abroad (Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina). Despite the decommissioning of the German plants, experience with the German plant type therefore still exists in industry, fuel management, and training. Expertise, sites, infrastructure, power plant buildings, plant components, and personnel are still available in Germany and can be expanded."

The group say "further issues need to be addressed or clarified" to enable the restart of the country's reactors. These include an "ideology-free evaluation" of the electricity production possibilities, taking into account all socio-economic factors and considering the goal of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045; accompanied and supported by a public communication campaign. They say there must be a suspension of the dismantling of potential nuclear power plant sites and the associated cost regulations, as well as an amendment to the Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Act and subordinate regulations. They call for bureaucracy to be reduced in the process of seeking new nuclear permits and environmental impact assessments, as well as preservation of existing know-how in educational institutions and among plant manufacturers. In addition, they say incentives for investment in the nuclear sector must be created. "Under the current framework, power plant operators themselves have no interest in resuming reactor operation due to the 'unbundling' of grids and generation, and the associated cost burden on electricity customers," the latter says. "The interest of other investors is currently thwarted only by nuclear legislation."

"You can influence the framework conditions politically. We can contribute our technical expertise," says the letter - the by German tabloid newspaper Bild. "From a purely technical point of view, the existing power plants in Germany that were recently shut down can be reactivated."

The signatories include: Horst Kemmeter, former head of the Emsland and Biblis plants; Thomas Franke, former head of the Philippsburg and Leibstadt plants; Jürgen Haag, former head of Emsland; and Hans-Joachim Mueller from the Brokdorf nuclear power plant.

As a technical basis, the signatories refer to the new report prepared by the Radiant 抖阴传媒在线 Group in collaboration with German pro-nuclear group Nuklearia, which examines the feasibility, timeline, and economic viability of restarting the most recently decommissioned plants.

"Since the reactivation can utilise existing plant components and the existing workforce at the site, it is highly attractive both economically and in terms of timing – both compared to new construction projects abroad and other energy sources," says the report, titled . "Reactivation modernises the plants, equipping them for decades of further operation. The resulting levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is so low that reactivation would be attractive to investors even without government support, provided policymakers pave the way. This also represents Germany's best opportunity to once again offer industry internationally competitive electricity prices without the need for subsidies."

The report concludes that up to 14 reactors can be modernised and, in some cases, even have their output increased.

"The decision to reactivate the plants should be made as soon as possible to avoid further damage to the facilities caused by dismantling," it says. "However, since even more extensively dismantled plants are still eligible for recommissioning, this option remains open for several years should the decision to reactivate be delayed. The report assumes that dismantling will cease and preparations for reactivation will begin in January 2027."

Background

Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan in March 2011, the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel decided it would phase out its use of nuclear power by the end of 2022 at the latest. Prior to the accident, Germany was obtaining around one-quarter of its electricity from nuclear power.

In August 2011, the 13th amendment of the Nuclear Power Act came into effect, which underlined the political will to phase out nuclear power in Germany. As a result, eight units were closed down immediately: Biblis A and B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Krümmel, Neckarwestheim 1, Phillipsburg 1 and Unterweser. 

The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C plants were permanently shut down at the end of December 2021. The country's final three units - Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 - shut down in April 2023. All the units are now at various stages of decommissioning. (Click for a full timeline of Germany's nuclear phaseout).

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]]> true <![CDATA[Russia and Rwanda hold first nuclear energy joint committee meeting]]>  ]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:16:25 GMT The meeting, co-chaired by Rosatom Deputy Director General Kirill Komarov and Lassina Zerbo, Chairman of the Rwanda Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Board and advisor to Rwanda's president, pictured above signing the agreement, took place in Moscow.

Komarov said: "We are moving from framework agreements to joint work on concrete tracks: from training national personnel and developing nuclear infrastructure to projects in nuclear science and small modular reactors. Rwanda is building its nuclear programme consistently and responsibly, and Rosatom is ready to be a reliable partner for the country at every stage of this journey."

Zerbo said: "The roadmap agreed upon today is building on the bilateral cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy initiated in 2018. Our priority is to include nuclear power within our energy mix by early 2030s to address the growing energy demand in Rwanda. Implementing a nuclear energy programme is first and foremost an investment in people, in science and in the country's long-term development. The Joint Coordinating Committee allows us to move to substantive work across every track of our programme."

Rwanda has been developing plans to adopt nuclear energy for a number of years, with President Kagame saying at the Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线 Conference in Paris in March that it plans to have its first small modular reactor operational in the early-2030s.

He said at that conference: "Nuclear energy is not too complex or risky for developing countries. The standards developed by the IAEA provide a universal framework that can be applied by countries at every income level ... nuclear technology is evolving in ways that benefit countries with small grids, allowing Africa to be among the early adopters. Small modular reactors in particular are especially suited to Africa's requirements."

Rwanda and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in 2018.  The following year an agreement was signed on the construction of a Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology in Rwanda, which is to include a 10 MW research reactor and a set of laboratories.

Rwanda is also exploring a number of other options for future nuclear - earlier this year Holtec International and the Rwanda Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Board signed a development agreement to explore the potential deployment of up to 5 GW capacity of SMR-300 units.

]]> ]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Action needed to achieve tripling of global nuclear capacity target, says NEA]]>  ]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:19:10 GMT The report - - assesses the current status and future trajectory of nuclear generating capacity worldwide.

The goal of at least tripling global nuclear capacity - currently almost 400 GWe - by 2050 has been endorsed by more than 30 countries since the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in December 2023.

The Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线 Agency's (NEA's) analysis of future global nuclear capacity is built around four scenarios that describe how global installed nuclear capacity could evolve to 2050 and beyond, taking into account refurbishments and long-term operations of the existing nuclear reactor fleet, as well as new builds of gigawatt-scale and small modular reactors (SMRs). In the Low Scenario, global installed nuclear capacity falls to 347 GWe by 2050, as retirements in OECD countries offset new projects and recent momentum fails to translate into sustained deployment. In the Current Trends Scenario, global capacity reaches 619 GWe, driven largely by non-OECD planned and proposed projects. In the Ambitious Scenario, global capacity reaches 883 GWe, with a larger contribution from new build and SMRs. In the Transformative Scenario, global capacity reaches about 1,324 GWe by 2050, more than tripling global capacity - it requires deployment rates that far exceed recent experience and, in OECD countries, would require a major step change in project execution, industrial capability and financing.

Long-term operation of the existing nuclear fleet remains a key factor in meeting global nuclear capacity targets, the NEA says. Many reactors in OECD countries will reach the end of their initial licences before 2040. Extending operations to 60 years and, increasingly, 80 years could preserve reliable low-carbon capacity, support energy security and avoid the need to replace large volumes of firm generation at short notice. However, the report estimates that plants representing more than 50 GWe of OECD nuclear capacity have not yet secured licences to operate to 2040. "Renewing the licences of plants capable of continued operations is essential," it says.

Challenges related to supply chain and workforce capacity must also be overcome if higher deployment scenarios are to be delivered. In many OECD countries, limited new build over the past 25 years has weakened industrial capabilities and project delivery experience, the report says. "Meeting this challenge will require close co-operation among like-minded countries, stronger industrial partnerships and a shift from project-by-project approaches to programme-based deployment."

The NEA says financing will also be a decisive factor. Recent global capital expenditure on new nuclear has averaged about USD30 billion per year, mainly driven by China and Russia. "To meet higher deployment scenarios, this will need to rise sharply," it says. For OECD countries, annual capital requirements would need to increase from about USD12 billion per year over the last decade to an average of USD68 billion in the Ambitious Scenario and USD143 billion in the Transformative Scenario. During the 2030s, the Transformative Scenario could see OECD capital requirements approach USD200 billion per year. Mobilising private capital will be essential. "This will require bankable project structures, clear risk allocation, credible revenue models and government-backed mechanisms that reduce construction, market and political risks."

The NEA says the report "highlights that closing the gap between ambition and delivery will require concerted efforts by governments, industry and financial institutions. Only together can the existing barriers to deployment be overcome, and support for the next phase of nuclear energy's development secured".

"The future of nuclear energy will not be shaped by ambition alone, but by the ability to deliver projects successfully and at scale," says NEA Director-General William Magwood in the report's foreword. "By systematically tracking progress and identifying the opportunities and challenges ahead, this report aims to support informed decision-making and, ultimately, to help enable the future global expansion of nuclear energy."

In its inaugural , released in January, 抖阴传媒在线 Nuclear Association compiled national government targets and goals for nuclear capacity for 2050 and assessed them alongside plans for continued and extended operation of existing reactors, completion of those under construction, and realisation of planned and proposed projects. It found global generating capacity could reach 1,446 GWe by 2050 if governments hit their targets for new nuclear, far exceeding the 1,200 GWe goal set in the Declaration to Triple Nuclear 抖阴传媒在线.

抖阴传媒在线 Nuclear Association's report said that achieving the projected 2050 capacity requires scaling annual grid connections from 14.4 GWe per year in 2026-2030, to 22.3 GWe per year in 2031-2035, to 49.2 GWe per year in 2036-2040, 51.6 GWe per year in 2041-2045 and 65.3 GWe per year in 2046-2050. It noted that the required 65.3 GWe per year during 2046-2050 is "roughly double the historic peak build rate seen in the 1980s".

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]]> true <![CDATA[Ukraine draft law on Chernobyl decommissioning to 2036 approved]]>  ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:45:14 GMT The funding allocated for the programme to 2036 amounts to UAH50.8 billion (USD1.1 billion), of which UAH45.6 billion is to be financed via the state budget and UAH5.2 billion from "international technical assistance".

According to the Ministry of 抖阴传媒在线, the programme required updating following the completion of the shutdown and preparatory phases of the Chernobyl decommissioning process "to reflect current challenges" including additional measures to tackle the damage caused during the war by the month-long Russian occupation in 2022 and by a drone strike last year to the New Safe Confinement protective arch, "and the actual progress of projects" at the site.

"The next stage involves the direct decommissioning of the plant and the continued transformation of the Shelter Object into an environmentally safe system," a ministry statement said.

"Extending the programme will ensure the uninterrupted continuation of the Chornobyl NPP decommissioning process, support Ukraine's international commitments in the field of nuclear safety, and facilitate the mobilisation of international technical and financial assistance for projects at the plant," the ministry said. (Chornobyl is Ukraine’s preferred spelling). The draft law will now go to the Ukrainian parliament for consideration.

Read more: Chernobyl at 40




(Image: State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management)

Background

Chernobyl unit 4 was destroyed in the April 1986 accident (see links above for more details in features published to mark the 40th anniversary) with a shelter constructed in a matter of months to encase the damaged unit, which allowed the other units at the plant to continue operating. It still contains the molten core of the reactor and an estimated 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material.

However that shelter was not designed for the very long-term, and so the New Safe Confinement - the largest moveable land-based structure ever built - was constructed to cover a much larger area including the original shelter. The New Safe Confinement has a span of 257 metres, a length of 162 metres, a height of 108 metres and a total weight of 36,000 tonnes and was designed for a lifetime of about 100 years. It was built nearby in two halves which were moved on specially constructed rail tracks to the current position, where it was completed in 2019.

With the new NSC in place there were plans to make safe and dismantle the original shelter. But a drone strike on 14 February last year caused a 15-square-metre hole in the external cladding of the NSC, with further damage to a wider area of about 200-square-metres, as well as to some joints and bolts. It took about three weeks to fully extinguish smouldering fires in the insulation layers of the shelter.

Temporary repair work was carried out before the winter to prevent weather damage and assessments of the cost of restoring its full protective functions have been put at "in the order of" EUR500 million (USD577 million).

The other three units at Chernobyl closed down in 1991, 1996 and 2000 respectively. So in total there are four RBMK-1000 reactors, plus two almost-completed ones, being decommissioned.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Rolls-Royce SMR plans manufacturing development centre in Derby]]>  ]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2026 13:12:15 GMT The company said Pioneer Works will be a non-nuclear site, housing specialist engineering and manufacturing projects that are critical to the successful deployment of its first power plants. It will create and sustain around 40 highly skilled, long-term roles as the facility ramps up, spanning advanced engineering, welding, testing, precision assembly and manufacturing development, while helping train the next generation in these skills.

The GBP12 million (USD16 million) facility - set to open later this year - will develop and validate the techniques, technologies and processes required to assemble the primary circuit and highest integrity components that sit at the heart of the nuclear power plant.

The Pioneer Works site will operate alongside Rolls-Royce SMR's existing EXPERI facility at the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. EXPERI will continue to play a role in developing Rolls-Royce SMR's unique modular approach to delivering proven nuclear technologies. Together, these two facilities will underpin Rolls-Royce SMR's delivery plan - helping move from design and prototype manufacture through to full modular assembly and power plant delivery.

"Pioneer Works will be at the centre of our ambition to transform the way nuclear projects are delivered, creating highly skilled jobs, supporting the wider supply chain and harnessing British engineering know-how to drive forward the next generation of nuclear power," said Ruth Todd, Rolls-Royce SMR's Operations and Supply Chain Director. "I'm also incredibly proud that this facility will act as our first training centre to create a future workforce which will help build Rolls-Royce SMR's 'factory-built' nuclear power plants around the world."


A cross-section of a Rolls-Royce SMR power plant (Image: Rolls-Royce SMR)

The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years. Ninety percent of the SMR - measuring about 16 metres by 4 metres - will be built in factory conditions, limiting activity on-site primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested, modules which significantly reduces project risk and has the potential to shorten build schedules.

In October 2024, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected by 膶EZ to deploy up to 3 GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, and 膶EZ took a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR. The plan is for the first SMR to be deployed in the area of the Temelín site (which already has two gigawatt-scale VVER-100 units), with further projects being developed for coal-fired power plant sites, including Tušimice. Rolls-Royce SMR has signed an early works agreement with 膶EZ to progress licensing, permitting and site-specific design for deployment.

In June 2025, Rolls-Royce SMR was selected as the UK government's preferred technology for the country's first SMR project. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in 2029. In November, the UK government announced that Wylfa on the island of Anglesey, North Wales, would be the site to host the three Rolls-Royce SMR units. It said the site - where a Magnox plant is being decommissioned - could potentially host up to eight SMRs. In April, Rolls-Royce SMR signed a contract with Great British 抖阴传媒在线 - Nuclear (GBE-N) to begin site-specific design and delivery activities for the UK's first SMRs at Wylfa.

In May, GBE-N launched a contest to find a name for the SMR plant to be built at the Wylfa site. The company has now announced that, after hundreds of suggestions were submitted by locals, a panel of young people from Anglesey has decided the plant will be called Gwyndod Power Station. "The name was chosen because it honours the specific identity, resilience, and unique character of the island's people, placing the local community directly at the heart of the project's identity," GBE-N said. "The name is derived from the old name for the region's dialect, Gwyndodeg."

Earlier this month, Swedish nuclear project company Videberg Kraft - owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft, with the Swedish state due to become majority owner - selected Rolls-Royce SMR as supplier for its project on the Värö Peninsula near Ringhals, where it plans to site three of the UK-based firm's SMRs.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Palisades enters final stage of work before restart]]>  ]]> Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:33:32 GMT Among the final accomplishments in this 'project phase' of restart was placement of the plant's turbine-generator on turning gear following extensive inspections, maintenance, testing, and refurbishment activities. Holtec said another major achievement was installation and testing of a new state-of-the-art fuel handling machine, completing the upgraded fuel handling system.

"Together, these projects represent the culmination of a series of major efforts carried out across the station," Holtec said. "They mark an important transition in the Palisades restart, which included reactor vessel inspections and replacement of reactor head penetrations, primary system chemical decontamination and passivation, steam generator tube refurbishment and secondary-side cleaning, fuel receipt and inspection, operator training and requalification, and numerous equipment upgrades and modernisation projects. Throughout this phase, our focus has been ensuring that Palisades is ready to support decades of safe, reliable operation."


The new fuel handling machine (Image: Holtec)

Enterprise Unit Head Steven Soler and Site Vice President Michael Schultheis said: "These accomplishments reflect the tremendous amount of work performed across the station throughout the restart effort. "We're now focused on safely executing the remaining testing, verification, and operational readiness activities required before startup. The plant is coming back together, and the professionalism and dedication demonstrated by our workforce continue to move the project forward."

With the projects phase successfully completed, the plant's managers, superintendents, and supervisors have shifted their focus to the remaining work through the Operations Command Centre and several dedicated coordination teams, where work is being managed around the clock to prepare the plant for startup.

Holtec noted that, although more 5,000 individual work activities remain, "this transition represents an important milestone in the historic restart effort".

"As we enter the final phase of this historic effort, we are grateful for the support provided by our federal, state, and community partners, whose collaboration has helped make this pioneering effort possible," said Holtec Chairman and CEO Kris Singh. "The Palisades restart will forever serve as lasting evidence of what can be accomplished when government and private industry work together to achieve an important national objective."

Palisades, a single-unit pressurised water reactor, ceased operations in May 2022 and was defuelled the following month, although it was licensed to operate until March 2031. The unit's licence was transferred from previous operator Entergy Nuclear Operations to Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC, for decommissioning, but in late 2023, Holtec began the process of obtaining the licensing approvals needed to return the plant to operational status for the remainder of its licensing term.

Holtec notified the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2024 that it intends to apply for a second, or subsequent, licence renewal for the plant. This would extend the plant's operating period by a further 20 years, to 2051.

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]]> true <![CDATA[EIB grants loan for Orano Med development]]>  ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:23:49 GMT Orano Med - a subsidiary of the Orano group specialising in nuclear medicine - develops lead-212-based targeted alpha therapies, a new class of cancer treatments. By using the unique properties of alpha-emitter lead-212, these therapies aim at the targeted destruction of cancer cells, while limiting the impact on surrounding healthy tissue. Orano Med's clinical pipeline currently comprises four programmes, run either independently or with its partners, evaluating these treatments across a wide range of cancer types that represent significant unmet medical needs. The company's partners include major pharmaceutical groups such as Sanofi and Roche, as well as Swiss biotech Molecular Partners.

In November 2024, Orano Med laid the foundations for its Advanced Thorium Extraction Facility (ATEF) plant in Bessines-sur-Gartempe in Haute-Vienne, western France. Once operational, the facility will allow for supply of all of Orano Med's pharmaceutical production sites, known as ATLabs (Alpha Therapy Laboratories), where lead-212 targeted alpha therapies will be produced for patients.

The ATEF facility, scheduled for commissioning in 2027, represents a total investment of about EUR250 million (USD286 million), creating nearly 70 direct and 100 indirect jobs. The ATEF project has been selected under the France 2030 plan following the call for "Industrialisation and health capacities 2030" projects and will receive public support of EUR22 million.


How the completed ATEF facility could look (Image: Orano)

The development of targeted alpha therapies and the creation of a dedicated production platform are fully in line with European priorities around healthcare, innovation, and industrial sovereignty. Orano said the European Investment Bank's (EIB's) financing "secures long-term funding for the project, underscoring its strategic importance at the European level".

For the EIB - the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States - this is the second loan agreement signed with the Orano group in just over a year. In March 2025, the EIB announced a EUR400 million loan agreement to finance the expansion of the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant at Orano’s Tricastin site in France.

“By supporting the development of Orano Med and notably the construction of its industrial infrastructure, the EIB is reaffirming Europe's commitment to advancing research in healthcare and the development of new cancer therapies, while establishing the industrial capabilities needed to produce these treatments on European territory," said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. "Following the financing agreement of the uranium enrichment programme concluded last year, this second transaction with the Orano group is also fully in line with the EIB's priorities: fostering innovation, strengthening the production capacity of strategic European industries, and ensuring the development and manufacturing of cutting-edge technologies in Europe."

Orano Med CEO Frédéric Desdouits added: "We are very proud to close this loan agreement, which reflects the strategic value of our investment plan dedicated to the development and production of innovative targeted alpha therapies for the treatment of cancer patients. The EUR125 million EIB financing will contribute to the deployment of our unique industrial platform, with the production of thorium-228, a critical step in the lead-212 therapy supply chain, to be centralised in France."

Orano Med has lead-212 production facilities, laboratories and R&D centres in France and the USA.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Sizewell B lifetime extension terms agreed to 2055]]>  ]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:14:10 GMT The pressurised water reactor, which came online in 1995, had an initial 40-year operating life to 2035. Following the agreement on financing, EDF will fund GBP800 million (USD1 billion) of refurbishment works to be carried out during planned outages over the next 15 years.

These works include installing a new environmental monitoring system and new automated plant monitoring systems, as well as replacing pipework, valves and pumps across the site.

The heads of terms for a contract for difference agreement includes a strike price of GBP70.50 per MWh for the period 2035 to 2055. That price is lower than the one agreed for Hinkley Point C, and below the current wholesale price, which is higher as a result of the impact of on-going global crises.

A contract for difference is where the operator is refunded the difference if the electricity price drops below the agreed strike price. If the electricity price is above that level the operator pays back the difference.

Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF UK, said: "Global events鈥痙emonstrate鈥痶ime and again鈥痟ow vital it is for the UK to secure long-term, low-carbon, homegrown electricity which protects British households and businesses鈥痜rom market volatility.鈥疎xtending the life of the plants we already have alongside building new ones is central to EDF's strategy."

UK 抖阴传媒在线 Secretary Ed Miliband said: "Nuclear power is vital for our energy security, and this extension will help produce the clean power our country needs."

Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear Lord Vallance said: "This deal protects billpayers and boosts the country’s energy security by continuing to provide clean, secure power for millions of households."

Chris O'Shea, CEO of Centrica, said: "I'm delighted that Sizewell B, in which Centrica owns a 20% share, will continue to play a key role in the UK's energy system for decades to come. Generating around 3% of the UK's electricity, We welcome the constructive engagement with government in reaching this agreement, providing the certainty needed to support the required investment."

The agreement is subject to finalisation, which is expected to happen later this year.

What the regulator says

The Office for Nuclear Regulation said: "We regulate in an enabling manner, working constructively with EDF on their plans to extend the life of their nuclear plants by reviewing technical and safety case considerations while ensuring it achieves the required standards of safety and security in the most practical way.

"Although their plant life extension decisions do not need formal regulatory assessment or permissioning by ONR, it is a requirement of the site licence that operations be carried out under a valid safety case. Our regulatory activity evaluates the adequacy of both the safety case, the security plan and their implementation.

"Safety cases at Sizewell B are likely to require updating to achieve EDF's stated ambition, together with investment in plant to sustain equipment reliability, all while ensuring that the necessary people and skills are available throughout the extended lifetime. Security plans also require updating to ensure they remain robust and responsive to the evolving security landscape. The ongoing safety and security of operations at any nuclear site must be fully demonstrated to us as part of ongoing regulation which will be informed by our extensive, proportionate and targeted inspection and assessment regime."

Background

The UK generates about 15% of its electricity from about 5.9 GWe of nuclear capacity, however most existing capacity is to be retired at the end of the decade. The first of a new generation of nuclear plants is under construction at Hinkley Point C and a final investment decision has been confirmed for a second plant, Sizewell C, alongside Sizewell B. They are due to come online in 2030 and the late 2030s, respectively. There are also plans for small modular reactors. The UK is aiming for up to 24 GWe of new nuclear capacity by 2050 to provide about 25% of electricity.

EDF manages the UK's eight nuclear power plant sites, five that are operating (Sizewell B, Torness, Heysham 2, Heysham 1 and Hartlepool) and three that have entered decommissioning (Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B and Dungeness B). It took over the sites when it acquired British 抖阴传媒在线 in 2009. As well as extending their lives to 2030, subject to regular regulatory checks, it is also building the two new plants.

Sizewell B is the UK's only pressurised water reactor and has more potential for life extensions than the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) fleet. In the USA, a number of pressurised water reactors have had their operating licences extended twice, to 80 years. So far, Sizewell B has produced more than  270 terawatt-hours of electricity since 1995, enough to met the needs of every household in Suffolk and Norfolk for more than 100 years. About 900 people are employed at the plant.

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the UK’s Nuclear Industry Association, said: "Sizewell B is the cleanest, most productive and most reliable plant in the whole country, so extending its life is one of the best things we can do to build an affordable and reliable clean power system. It will provide the vital baseload we need to stabilise the grid, cut gas imports, and cut bills."

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]]> true <![CDATA[More new capacity online at US uranium enrichment plant]]>  ]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:43:58 GMT The new cascade is part of a programme that began in 2025 to install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of enrichment capacity by early 2027. The capacity expansion - part of a mid- to long-term plan to refurbish and extend Urenco's enrichment capacity across its sites in the USA and Europe - passed its halfway point in March when the fourth of the eight new cascades began producing low-enriched uranium. To date, all the new cascades have brought online ahead of schedule and on budget, Urenco USA says.

Next year, Urenco USA will begin refurbishing existing cascades at the site as part of ongoing capital investments in the facility to maintain a long-term, reliable supply of enrichment services. Construction has already started on a centrifuge storage building to house equipment removed from existing cascades during the refurbishment project until future disposal. The building is on schedule to be completed in early 2027.

In 2029, the company plans to begin construction of a new 2.1 million SWU enrichment plant at the site, with the first cascades expected to start production in 2032 and additional cascades installed until 2036. 

"With these multi-billion-dollar investments, installed capacity at the facility will grow to more than 7 million SWU over the next 10 years," the company said.

"The prospects for the US nuclear industry are exciting, and we are supporting it with our current capacity installation and the larger projects in the decade ahead," said John Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of Urenco USA. "As the US nuclear industry works to grow significantly in the coming years, our teams are demonstrating what is possible when plans become actions and results."

Background

About 0.7% of naturally occuring uranium is the uranium-235 (U-235) isotope, which can undergo the fission process by which energy is produced in a nuclear reactor (the rest is the uranium-238 isotope, which is not fissile). Most nuclear reactors in commercial operation today need fuel containing between 3.5% and 5% U-235. Advanced reactor designs that are now being developed - and many small modular reactors - will require higher enrichments still.

Enrichment increases the concentration of the U-235 isotope by passing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through gas centrifuges, in which a fast-spinning rotor inside a vacuum casing makes use of the very slight difference in mass between the different isotopes to separate them. As the rotor spins, the concentration of molecules containing the heavier, non-fissile, isotopes increases near the outer wall of the cylinder, with a corresponding increase in the concentration of molecules containing the lighter U-235 isotope towards the centre.

The Urenco USA National Enrichment Facility, in Eunice, New Mexico, is currently the only commercial uranium enrichment capacity in the USA. It began enriching uranium in 2010. The facility has an existing annual capacity of 4.3 million SWU, about a third of current US demand.

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]]> true <![CDATA[US uranium project completes federal permitting process]]>  ]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:41:07 GMT This follows an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact in support of the licence issued by the commission earlier this month. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has also recently authorised the start of construction of infrastructure on portions of bureau-managed public lands within the larger Dewey Burdock Project.

Dewey Burdock is described by enCore as an advanced-stage uranium project covering 10,580 acres (about 4,282 hectares), including 10,340 acres of private surface rights and 240 acres of Bureau of Land Management-managed surface rights. It was originally awarded a source and byproduct materials licence by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2014. The project became part of enCore 抖阴传媒在线's portfolio on its acquisition of Azarga Uranium in 2022, consolidating the companies' assets which also included licensed in-situ production facilities at Rosita and Kingsville Dome, both in South Texas, and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming.

The project was approved in August 2025 for inclusion in the US Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council's FAST-41 programme. (“Permitting Council”) on 28 August, 2025, with the NRC acting as the lead agency. Inclusion in the programme helps critical mineral projects to receive accelerated permitting review.

Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech congratulated the NRC and enCore 抖阴传媒在线 Corp "for getting the Dewey Burdock ISR Uranium Project to the federal permitting finish line ... increasing the domestic production of uranium is critical to national security and energy dominance, and will play a pivotal role in accelerating the deployment of nuclear energy to meet growing electricity demand".

The company has commenced permitting efforts with the State of South Dakota, which are required before the Dewey Burdock Project proceeds to full operational status. 

“FAST-41 has played an important role in securing federal permitting, and we look forward to finalising state permitting, beginning construction, and ultimately producing from this critical source of clean, reliable, and affordable uranium to fuel the rapidly expanding US nuclear energy needs," enCore 抖阴传媒在线 Executive Chair William Sheriff said. "This project should provide positive local and national economic impacts through development and ongoing operations."

EnCore plans to operate Dewey Burdock through its Powertech USA subsidiary by the in-situ recovery, or ISR, process, using an oxygen and water-based solution in the production wellfield to dissolve uranium minerals in place. (ISR is also sometimes referred to as in-situ leach).

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]]> true <![CDATA[Supply chain challenges prompt Cigar Lake suspension]]>  ]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:30:41 GMT "Orano's McClean Lake mill has encountered operational challenges with its sulphuric acid plant that caused it to shut down in order to repair the issue. Orano is currently working to bring the acid plant back online and is assessing options to obtain acid supply from an alternative source while it waits for replacement parts to complete the repair. With limited ore storage capacity at Cigar Lake, we have temporarily suspended mining activities until sufficient acid is available to allow milling to resume at McClean Lake," the company said.

Cameco said that at present, the mill is expected to return to operation in around two weeks, and the disruption is not expect to impact its 2026 production outlook for Cigar Lake. "However, there is a risk that the repairs to the acid plant take longer than planned and that mining at Cigar Lake is unable to resume on the expected schedule," the company notes - adding that additional delays could affect its 2026 production outlook.

Cigar Lake is the world's highest grade uranium mine, with an average ore grade of 16.33% U3O8. Cameco developed an innovative jet-boring technique specifically for the project, freezing the ground and using a high-pressure water jet to mine out cavities in the frozen ore. The mixture of ore and water is then pumped to underground grinding and processing circuits. Thickened ore slurry is pumped to the surface and transported in tanker trucks 70 kilometres to the McClean Lake mill - operated by Orano - where it is processed into uranium concentrate.

The McClean Lake mill was originally built to process uranium from the McClean Lake mine, with a grade of 2.4% U3O8, but was subsequently upgraded to process high-grade uranium: according to its 77.5%-owner, and operator, Orano, it is the only facility in the world capable of processing high-grade uranium ore without dilution, and can process ore grades more than 100 times the world's average grade.

Sulphuric acid is a key reagent used in the leaching, counter-current decantation, solvent extraction and yellowcake precipitation processes at the mill. The mill has its own acid plant, but globally, supplies of sulphuric acid have been impacted by the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the American Chemical Society's Chemical & Engineering News, about half of the seaborne trade in sulphur normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the start of war in Iran, sulphur shipments have almost completely stopped. And China - the world's largest exporter of sulphuric acid - has restricted exports since the beginning of May.

Cigar Lake produced 4.9 million pounds U3O8 (1885 tU) in the first quarter of 2026 (of which Cameco's share was 2.7 million pounds), with total production for 2026 expected to be between 17.5 and 18.0 million pounds in 2026.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Brazil establishes new uranium-focused working group]]>  ]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:21:14 GMT The new group established by the council (the Conselho Nacional de Política Mineral) has been given 90 days to "assess the current state of mapping and knowledge about uranium mineral resources and reserves, and to propose strategies to expand this information. The committee will also be responsible for determining the mineral production potential, considering ongoing and future projects".

It will be run under the supervision of the Ministry of Mines and 抖阴传媒在线 and will bring together various government departments, the navy and Ministry of Defence as well as nuclear operator Eletronuclear and Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB).

Tomas Albuquerque, INB President, said: "We have an incredible window of opportunity and a window of concern. Today, the world produces 60,000 tonnes of uranium and will consume 65,000 tonnes … 5,000 tonnes have come from strategic reserves held by countries and the nuclear power plants themselves."

He said that demand was going to increase across the world as new units are built, and Brazil itself, which has plans to expand nuclear capacity, will need to expand its uranium production just to meet its own demand "and actually having this uranium requires significant investments", he said.

State-owned INB launched the Pró-Urânio programme in 2024 "with the aim of expanding and accelerating the exploration of new deposits, and which will involve BNDES (Brazilian National Bank for Economic and Social Development) in developing the model for partnerships with mining companies".

A Request for Information was launched by Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development in December for consulting firms interested in participating in the programme.

Background

According to 抖阴传媒在线 Nuclear Association, following active exploration in the 1970s and 1980s, Brazil has reasonably assured resources of 210,000 tonnes of uranium.

Uranium has been mined in Brazil since 1982, but the only operating mine is INB's Lagoa Real/Caetité mine, with a capacity of 340 tU per year. The mine has known resources of 10,000 tU at 0.3%U.

It has been developing the Santa Quitéria Project, which is currently in the preliminary environmental licensing process with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) - it was accepted for environmental review in March 2022.

The project is to be implemented at Fazenda Itataia, in the municipality of Santa Quitéria. The collophanite deposit at Itataia is composed of 99.8% phosphate and 0.2% uranium. The deposit - located in the interior of the state of Ceará - is the largest discovered uranium reserve in Brazil.

INB has said the projected annual production is approximately 1.05 million tonnes of phosphate fertiliser and 220,000 tonnes of dicalcium phosphate for animal feed as well as producing "approximately 2,300 tonnes of uranium concentrate per year, destined to supply the Angra 1, Angra 2, and, in the future, Angra 3 nuclear power plants. This initiative reinforces the country's strategy of self-sufficiency in nuclear fuel production, with potential for export".

According to figures reported at the time plans for the project were announced in 2020, the Itataia deposit has an estimated 142,200 tU, inter-mixed with phosphates. The deposit has exploitable reserves of 79.5 million tonnes of ore, at grades of 11% P2O5 and 0.0998% U3O8, equating to about 8.9 million tonnes of P2O5 and 79.3 thousand tonnes of U3O8.

Brazil has a long-established nuclear energy sector. Two pressurised water reactors - Angra 1 and 2 - supply about 3% of the country's electricity. There are also plans to complete a third unit at Angra and potential new capacity is being explored, including via a microreactor being developed in the country.

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]]> true <![CDATA[Australia agrees to export uranium to India]]>  ]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:23:49 GMT The announcement came during an official visit by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Australia.

"The arrangement facilitates Australian uranium exports to India to help increase the share of non-fossil fuel power capacity, providing an additional market for the Australian resources sector," the Australian government said in a statement.

India has an ambitious nuclear power programme but few indigenous uranium resources, and could provide a significant market for Australian uranium. Australia is the world's fourth-largest producer of uranium behind Kazakhstan, Canada and Namibia. All of its production - almost 4,600 tU in 2024 - is exported under strict controls to ensure that it is only for civilian use. Australia is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but also requires any countries to which it sells uranium to put in place a rigorous bilateral safeguards treaty.

While India has an impeccable nuclear non-proliferation record it is not a signatory of the NPT, and was effectively isolated from world nuclear trade until 2008, when it signed a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 Agency (IAEA). The 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group subsequently agreed to exempt the country from rules prohibiting trade with non-members of the NPT, opening the door to the possibility of nuclear trade with India. Since then, India has signed nuclear cooperation agreements with several countries.

A bilateral agreement between Australia and India for the supply of uranium was signed in 2014, and came into force in November 2015 during a state visit to India by Tony Abbott, Australia's prime minister at the time. However, Australia's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommended that uranium sales should begin only after conditions concerning India's nuclear regulatory regime, routine inspections and reactor decommissioning plans were fulfilled. A bill on Civil Nuclear Transfers to India was passed by both Australian houses in November 2016.

Australia and India have now finalised the administrative arrangements necessary to enable the export of Australian uranium to India for exclusively peaceful purposes and under IAEA safeguards, as provided for under the 2015 cooperation agreement.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "Australia's natural resources are vital for other countries' energy security and stability, and we look forward to becoming a reliable, trusted supplier of uranium to India."

Prime Minister Modi added: "Today, we have signed an important agreement in the field of nuclear energy. This will open the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give new impetus to our clean energy objectives."

In March, Canada's Cameco entered a long-term agreement to supply uranium ore concentrate to India's Department of Atomic 抖阴传媒在线 (DAE), for use in the country's fleet of nuclear reactors. The agreement will see Cameco supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium ore concentrate (U3O8) to the DAE between 2027 and 2035 on market-related price terms, with a total contract value estimated at about CAD2.6 billion (USD1.9 billion). Cameco previously supplied uranium to India under a five-year contract that began in 2015.

India currently has 24 operating reactors along with ambitious plans to deploy dozens more to reach 100 GW by 2047.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Long-term fuel supply contract signed for OL3]]>  ]]> Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:23:23 GMT In addition to ensuring long-term fuel supply, the agreement provides TVO with the option to transition to Framatome's advanced GAIA fuel design, once the necessary licensing activities for reload quantities are completed. The GAIA design represents Framatome's latest innovation in fuel technology, offering enhanced performance, flexibility, and operational efficiency.

As part of the agreement, Framatome will also supply engineering services related to reactor core design and fuel use optimisation to support the safe and economical operation of the Olkiluoto (OL3) plant unit.


The Olkiluoto EPR (Image: TVO)

"This new contract further strengthens a longstanding partnership between Framatome and TVO, built over more than 30 years of collaboration in nuclear fuel supply for Olkiluoto's boiling water reactors and the EPR," Framatome said.

Lionel Gaiffe, Senior Executive Vice President of Framatome's Fuel Business Unit, said: "We are proud to continue supporting our long-term customer, TVO, by delivering reliable and safe fuel assemblies to Olkiluoto 3. This agreement reflects the trusted relationship we have built over many years, as well as our shared commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, and operational excellence in nuclear fuel supply."

"This agreement with Framatome strengthens the long-term security of fuel supply for Olkiluoto 3 and supports our objective of ensuring safe and efficient electricity production," said Marjo Mustonen, Senior Vice President for Electricity Production at TVO. "We value our strong partnership and look forward to continued collaboration in optimising plant performance."

Tuomas Rantala, Head of TVO's Fuel Uni, added: "This agreement for its part allows the adoption of longer operating cycles of up to two years at Olkiluoto 3. At the same time, the agreement strengthens over the long term the supply reliability based on TVO's decentralised procurement approach."

OL3 - a 1600 MWe pressurised water reactor - attained first criticality on 21 December 2021 and was connected to the grid on 12 March 2022 before entering commercial operation the following May.

Together with units 1 and 2 - both 890 MWe boiling water reactors - the Olkiluoto plant produces about 30% of Finland's annual electricity consumption.

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Skanska contracted for Swedish repository expansion work]]>  ]]> Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:13:05 GMT The SFR repository is situated 60 metres below the bottom of the Baltic Sea and began operations in 1988. The facility comprises four 160-metre-long rock vaults and a chamber in the bedrock with a 50-metre-high concrete silo for the most radioactive waste. Two parallel kilometre-long access tunnels link the facility to the surface. The facility currently has a total final disposal capacity of about 63,000 cubic metres of waste.

The plan is that the repository, when extended, will have six new rock vaults, 240-275 metres long. The intention is to construct the extension at a depth of 120-140 metres, level with the lowest part of the current SFR repository. On completion the facility will have a total storage capacity of about 180,000 cubic metres.


The blue area shows where SKB plans to extend the existing SFR repository (Image: SKB)

Svensk Kärnbränslehantering (SKB) signed a collaboration agreement with Skanska in July 2023 regarding the expansion of the SFR repository. The existing agreement for the design phase (phase 1) is now supplemented by a contract for the production phase (phase 2). The production phase is divided into several stages and separate contracts for each stage are signed successively.

The latest contract covers rock works, civil works, earthworks and water and sanitation works, and tunnel lining.

Construction of the new rock caverns is planned to start in the third quarter of 2026. The contract is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2028, and the complete facility is expected to be ready for test operation in 2030-2031.

Rock construction work got under way in December 2024. Blasting work 45 metres below ground began in January 2025, marking the start of the expansion of the existing SFR repository.

Most of the short-lived waste deposited in the SFR comes from Swedish nuclear power plants, but radioactive waste from hospitals, veterinary medicine, research and industry is also deposited within it.

The project to expand the SFR is being carried out to create space for low- and intermediate-level operational and decommissioning waste from Sweden's nuclear power plants. Many Swedish nuclear power reactors have already been shut down and are to be dismantled and demolished. The decommissioning waste that contains radioactivity will be finally disposed of in the SFR. This includes reactor components, metal, concrete and other building materials.

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Go-ahead for expansion of Swedish repository
Skanska collaborates with SKB on repository expansion
Application submitted to extend Swedish repositor

]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[Tender launched for dismantling of Ignalina cores]]>  ]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:15:17 GMT The contract - worth about EUR400 million (USD457 million) - covers the entire project implementation cycle, including dismantling engineering, licensing, the supply of specialised dismantling equipment, dismantling of the reactor cores of both reactors, and radioactive waste management.

The reactor cores - the central parts of the reactors - comprise the graphite stack, the surrounding structures and their filler materials. The cores are located in shafts measuring 21 by 21 metres in cross-section and 25 metres in depth.

In total, about 25,000 tonnes of materials will be dismantled across both reactors. A significant proportion of the materials in these zones consists of long-lived radioactive waste, making the dismantling process dependent on specialised technological solutions, international expertise, and the strictest nuclear and radiation safety requirements.

Altra described the work as "the most important and technically demanding stage of the entire decommissioning megaproject".

"This tender is an invitation to the international nuclear community to contribute to a project that has never before been undertaken anywhere in the world," said Altra Director General Linas Bau啪ys. "We look forward to attracting internationally experienced companies and working together to deliver one of the world's most complex nuclear reactor dismantling projects."

The tender is being conducted in two stages through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) . In the first stage, participants will submit technical proposals, followed by financial proposals in the second stage. Technical proposals from tender participants may be submitted until 5 November. The contract is expected to be awarded in 2027. From the date the contract enters into force, the project is expected to take approximately 16 years to complete.

The project is being financed by the European Commission through the Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund, administered by the EBRD.

The RBMK-1500 is an upgraded, higher-capacity version of the Soviet-designed graphite-moderated nuclear reactor. It was built exclusively at the Ignalina plant. By using less cooling water and a helical flow, it achieved a 1,500 MW electrical output. However, the reactors were later de-rated to 1,300 MWe.

Lithuania assumed ownership of the two units in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It agreed to shut down the Ignalina plant as a condition of its accession to the European Union, with unit 1 shutting down in December 2004 and unit 2 in December 2009. The final cask of used fuel was transferred from the reactor buildings at Ignalina to an on-site interim storage facility in April 2022. The reactors are expected to be fully decommissioned by 2038, with most of the cost of the decommissioning being funded by the European Union via the EBRD and other funds.

"The dismantling of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant reactor cores is an unprecedented project that no country in the world has yet undertaken," said Acting Minister of 抖阴传媒在线 沤ygimantas Vai膷i奴nas. "Lithuania will become the first country to dismantle RBMK-1500 reactors, and the experience we gain together with the technological solutions we develop will provide valuable knowledge for other countries facing similar challenges in the future. This is further proof that Lithuania is capable of delivering some of the world's most complex nuclear decommissioning projects while maintaining the highest safety standards."

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]]> true <![CDATA[Commonwealth Fusion Systems joins UKAEA's tritium blanket testing programme]]>  ]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:22:38 GMT Future fusion power plants will rely on two hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium – to produce energy. Deuterium can be readily extracted from seawater. Tritium, however, is scarce in supply, necessitating the development of methods to produce it sustainably. To address this challenge, tritium must be produced (or 'bred') in a lithium-containing blanket that surrounds the fusion reaction. This 'breeder blanket' will perform several tasks: producing tritium; absorbing heat; and acting as a radiation shield. By ensuring a continuous supply of tritium for the fusion machine's operations, the breeder blanket enables a self-sustaining fuel cycle.

In January 2025, the UK government announced a GBP410 million (USD543 million) investment to accelerate development of fusion energy. The funding - announced by the Department for 抖阴传媒在线 Security and Net Zero - will support the development of the UK fusion energy sector over 2025 to 2026 with investment in the skills needed for scientists, engineers, welders and programme managers to enter the industry. This new investment includes the Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation (LIBRTI) programme - a GBP220 million initiative that focuses on pioneering fusion fuel advancements and stimulating general industry capacity through international collaboration.

The programme is creating a first-of-a-kind technology facility at UKAEA's Culham Campus in Oxfordshire, England, which will enable industry partners to develop and verify their blanket technologies in fusion environments representative of full-scale machines. As part of this effort, UKAEA has acquired a 14 mega electron volt (MeV) deuterium-tritium fusion system from SHINE Technologies of Janesville, Wisconsin, USA, to provide the LIBRTI high-flux neutron source.

UKAEA has now announced that Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is the first international company to join the Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation programme. CFS - spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018 - is currently building the SPARC prototype fusion machine at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. It is described as a compact, high-field, net fusion energy device that would be the size of existing mid-sized fusion devices, but with a much stronger magnetic field. The donut-shaped device will use powerful electromagnets to produce the right conditions for fusion energy, including an interior temperature surpassing 100 million degrees Celsius. It is predicted to produce 50-100 MW of fusion power, achieving fusion gain greater than 10. CFS expects to generate electricity from its first fusion power plant in Virginia in the early 2030s.

CFS and UKAEA will work together, designing the experimental setup, developing testing protocols, and conducting experiments at the Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation facility. CFS will build the test articles to be used in the first investigations.

Amanda Quadling, Executive Director of Materials, Blankets and Research at UKAEA and Senior Responsible Officer for the Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation programme, said that "welcoming CFS is a defining moment ... their participation adds momentum to our own efforts and accelerates the global pathway to demonstrated fusion power plant scale technology".

Commonwealth Fusion Systems co-founder and Chief Science Officer Brandon Sorbom said the programme's "specialised testing capabilities will allow us to demonstrate net tritium production and increase confidence in our ARC blanket system design. Through this collaboration, CFS will gain hands-on experience engineering and building blanket systems directly representative of our commercial fusion power plant. We're thrilled to partner with UKAEA and the LIBRTI team as an early user".

Heena Mutha, Commonwealth Fusion Systems Director of Fuel Cycle and Blanket Technology, added: "It's an incredible moment for the fusion industry that we're building the capability to investigate the performance of blankets in a fusion-relevant environment."

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]]> ]]> true <![CDATA[UKAEA, Eni create joint venture for fusion fuel cycle]]>  ]]> Mon, 06 Jul 2026 09:36:29 GMT The joint venture - named RH3OVA and incorporated in the UK - offers end-to-end services across the fuel lifecycle, from early-stage feasibility studies to deployment and operational support.

Deuterium and tritium are fuels commonly used in fusion energy. Deuterium is abundant in nature and extractable from seawater. In contrast, tritium is extremely rare. It is therefore essential to ensure careful and efficient management throughout the entire fuel cycle, from tritium's production and use in energy generation to its recovery from exhaust gases and refinement for re-use.

"Having operated the Joint European Torus, which was the world's most powerful deuterium-tritium fusion machine for more than 40 years, and with 30 years' experience of tritium operations, the UK is a leader in tritium fuel cycle technology," said Stephen Wheeler, Executive Director of Tritium Fuel Cycle at UKAEA. "For fusion to be realised as a commercially viable source of energy, however, this expertise must be scaled beyond the lab.

"RH3OVA offers best in class digital process models validated with real-world, fusion relevant data sets. RH3OVA will combine UKAEA's scientific and operational know-how, with Eni's large-scale industrial capability, and leverage this joint expertise to increase knowledge and understanding across the fusion sector."

Lorenzo Fiorillo, Director Technology, R&D & Digital of Eni, added: "Fusion energy has the potential to redefine the global energy landscape, and at Eni we are committed on multiple fronts to turning this potential into tangible industrial progress. Our partnership with UKAEA is of great strategic value to us and represents a further step in scaling up innovation and translating scientific excellence into real-world solutions.

"Today, with UKAEA, we are continuing our joint commitment for further progress in the fusion energy field, with a particular focus on the fuel cycle for fusion. This builds on our collaboration developing the UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility started last year which will be a world-class facility of its kind. At the same time, RH3OVA will respond to the growing demand for specialised technical expertise and integrated engineering services dedicated to the fuel cycle, which will be essential enabling factors for the operation of fusion power plants using deuterium and tritium as fuels."

UKAEA said RH3OVA "strengthens the strategic collaboration between Eni and UKAEA and their joint effort to commercialise fusion energy".

In March 2025, UKAEA and Eni entered into a collaboration agreement to jointly conduct research and development activities in the field of fusion energy. The collaboration primarily starts with the construction of the world's largest and most advanced tritium fuel cycle facility. The UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility, located at Culham Campus in Oxfordshire, England, will be complete in 2028. It is designed to serve as a world-class facility providing industry and academia with the opportunity to study how to process, store and recycle tritium.

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