You searched for press-reports

Belgium to close nuclear plants by 2025 but supports SMR development
30 December, 2021
Belgium's government said on 23 December that it expected to close down all its nuclear power plants by 2025 but would continue to invest in future technologies, in particular small modular reactors (SMRs).

Paks II submits application for a manufacturing permit for RPVs
18 November, 2021
Paks II Atomerőmű Zrt, the company responsible for the expansion of Hungary’s Paks NPP, has applied to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) for a production permit for the reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) of the planned two new units.

Iran and IAEA agree to continue co-operation
13 September, 2021
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 12 September published a Joint Statement by the Vice-President and the Head of Atomic Energy Organisation of  Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi following talks in Tehran.

Treated water from Fukushima to be released to the sea through 1 km tunnel
26 August, 2021
The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP about 1 kilometre off the coast, according to a plan released by Tepco on 25 August. The treated water, containing radioactive tritium, will be released through an undersea tunnel. The government and Tepco concluded that the use of such a tunnel would create less reputational damage than releasing the water directly from the coast near the plant.

High ranking Egyptian nuclear delegation visits Russia dispelling rumours of tension
04 August, 2021
A high-ranking Egyptian delegation headed by the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt, Mohammed Shaker, paid a working visit to one of the largest machine-building enterprises in Russia, JSC Tyazhmash on 30 July. The delegation also included: the Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) Amged El-Wakil; NPPA Vice President Mohammed Ramadan; the Chairman of the Nuclear and Radiation Control Department of Egypt, Sami Atalla; Rosatom’s First Deputy General Director for Nuclear Energy and President of JSC ASE, Alexander Lokshin; the Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision, Alexey Ferapontov, Samara Region Governor Dmitry Azarov; the General Director of Tyazhmash JSC Andrey Trifonov, as well as project teams of the Rosatom engineering division and NPPA.

El Dabaa nuclear project reported delayed by political tensions
29 July, 2021
According to local press reports, the delay of the El-Dabaa NPP to 2030 instead of 2028 reported earlier in July is due to underlying tension in relations with Russia. Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority spokesman Karim al-Adham confirmed the delay statements to the Egyptian economic newspaper Enterprise on 14 July, citing the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic as the reason.

Tepco business plan defers restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP
27 July, 2021
Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP in Niigata Prefecture will not be restarted until fiscal 2022 at the earliest, according to a new business plan released by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) on 21 July. In the first revision of the document in four years, Tepco also outlined plans to invest up to JPY3,000 billion ($27bn) by fiscal 2030 for decarbonisation efforts and outlined other targets.

China reports minor fuel rod damage but no leak at Taishan NPP
17 June, 2021
China's Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE) said on 16 June that there had been no leak at the Taishan NPP in Guangdong Province and rejected allegations by CNN that the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) had raised the permitted radiation levels near the plant. NNSA had reviewed specifications for noble gases used in the reactor coolant at Taishan, but this had "nothing to do with the detection of any radiation outside the nuclear plant”, MEE said.

IEA’s net zero report draws response from WNA
20 May, 2021
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in a new report, “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector” released on 18 May assesses the policy requirements, the deployment and innovation needs and the necessary investments needed to achieve that goal. It also looks at the economic benefits and wider global implications.

Rosatom excluded from Dukovany tender
22 April, 2021
Czech Trade and Industry Minister Karel Havlicek told Pravo newspaper on 19 April that Russia’s Rosatom would be excluded “within a few days” from the candidate companies selected to take part in the tender to build a new unit at the Dukovany NPP. "None of the companies invited will use a subcontractor from Rosatom," he said. The previous day Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis had spoken in favour of removing Rosatom from the tender based on Czech intelligence reports that explosions at an ammunition depot in the village of Vrbetice in 2014 had involved Russian special services.

Iran steps up nuclear activity following attack on its Natanz facility
15 April, 2021
In the wake of suspected sabotage at Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility on 11 April, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi in a letter to the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi on 13 April announced that Iran would start the uranium enrichment at the level of 60%. Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran the P5+1 group of countries (the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany) Iran agreed to limit its nuclear development in return for the lifting of sanctions. Under the JCPOA, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67%. However, after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions in 2018, Iran began reviving its nuclear programme and had increased its enrichment level to 20% in January.

IAEA and Iran agree a compromise to allow further diplomacy on nuclear deal
23 February, 2021
Following a visit to Tehran by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, IAEA on 21 February issued a joint statement by the Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Saleh, The statement “recalled and reaffirmed the spirit of cooperation and enhanced mutual trust” that led to an earlier joint statement in August 2020, and the importance of continuing that cooperation and trust.