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Ukraine begins construction of new units at Khmelnitsky NPP
17 April, 2024
Workers at Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky NPP have poured a symbolic cubic metre of concrete for two new reactors which are planned to use US Westinghouse technology and fuel. “Today we are talking about the future, we are talking about stability, we are talking about the development of nuclear energy,” said Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko. He added that the plans for Khmelnitsky were Ukraine’s most significant modernisation project since World War II. Also attending the ceremony were Petro Kotin, head of Ukrainian nuclear utility Energoatom; US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink; and Westinghouse CEO Patrick Fragman.

Commissioning work begins at Akkuyu 1
11 April, 2024
Rosatom has begun commissioning activities at unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkiye. A delegation of Rosatom officials, led by Director General Alexey Likhachev, paid a working visit to the construction site to assess progress of the work. They visited the nuclear and turbine island facilities of unit 1, as well as the onshore hydraulic structures of the NPP. Likhachev held a working meeting with the General Director of project company Akkuyu Nukleer, Anastasia Zoteeva, and other project managers, for detailed discussions.

Indian report concludes nuclear power is needed to achieve net-zero
09 April, 2024
A new report, “Synchronizing energy transitions towards possible Net-Zero for India: Affordable and clean energy for all”, has been launched by Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India. The report was prepared by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) under a project agreed in November 2021 by the PSA Office. The aims of the project were to carry out a comprehensive study looking at methods for minimising the cost of power at the consumer end and to work out an optimum mix for all sources of power to reach net-zero emissions.

IAEA discusses nuclear energy and technology in Iraq
22 March, 2024
During a visit to Baghdad, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi met with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani and senior government leaders. Talks centred on Iraq’s plans for a possible nuclear energy programme, including small modular reactors (SMRs), with strict adherence to non-proliferation norms. Decommissioning challenges and cancer care needs were also discussed.

Romania to build six SMRs with US financing
21 March, 2024
Romania, supported by US, is to build six small modular reactors (SMRs) in the locality of Doicesti, Dambovita, some 90 kilometres from Bucharest. The reactors can power 46,000 homes and could create 4,000 jobs, amounting to an investment of $6bn partly financed by the US. The reactors, designed by US NuScale, could be operational by the end of 2029.

IAEA's Grossi meets with Russian President Putin and Rosatom to discuss nuclear safety at Zaporizhia NPP
07 March, 2024
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has held a series of talks in the southern Russian city of Sochi with President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials, including Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev. This is Grossi’s second meeting with Putin. Russia took control of ZNPP in March 2022 as part of its special military operation in Ukraine. In October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree formally transferring ZNPP to Russian jurisdiction under nuclear utility Rosenergoatom (part of Rosatom) – a few days before Grossi’s first meeting with Putin in St Petersburg. A Russian Federal State Unitary Enterprise, Zaporizhia NPP, has since been established by nuclear utility Rosenergoatom to operate the plant, which is now being transferred to Russian operating and safety standards.

AECL and AtkinsRéalis partner to accelerate development of Candu Monark reactor
27 February, 2024
Canadian federal Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and AtkinsRéalis (part of the SNC-Lavalin Group) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate for the purpose of successfully deploying Candu reactors in Canada and internationally and to expand their intellectual property licensing agreement (IPLA).

JET’s final experiments set new fusion energy record
13 February, 2024
The UK’s Joint European Torus (JET) in Culham near Oxford, which closed at the end of December 2023 after 40 years of operation, “has demonstrated the ability to reliably generate fusion energy, whilst simultaneously setting a world-record in energy output”, according to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Grossi makes fourth trip to Zaporizhia
08 February, 2024
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and his team of experts including the Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety & Security, Lydie Evrard, visited the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) after holding talks in Kyiv and before travelling to Moscow for discussions with Russian officials.

UK launches HALEU programme
09 January, 2024
The UK will be the first European country to launch a high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) programme with a £300m ($381m) investment, according to a statement from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and Claire Coutinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero.

IAEA Director General visits Saudi Arabia
19 December, 2023
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, met with Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud as well as the Saudi regulator and a wide range of other organisations. “The Kingdom has taken a very wise decision to add nuclear power to the options in this integrated energy mix,” Grossi said. “We have greatly intensified our cooperation in the past few years because of the faster pace with which Saudi Arabia is preparing itself for the introduction of nuclear power.”

Framatome to expand its US facility in Virginia
19 December, 2023
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that France-based Framatome is to invest $49.4m to expand, modernise, and enhance its facilities in the City of Lynchburg to meet increased demand for servicing NPPs and developing solutions for advanced and small modular reactors (SMRs). Virginia competed with North Carolina and Pennsylvania for the project, which will create 515 new jobs.

South Africa to launch procurement process for new nuclear
14 December, 2023
South Africa intends to launch a bidding process for an extra 2,500 MWe of nuclear power by March after getting approval from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) plans to issue requests for proposals by March 2024. DMRE can proceed with the procurement process after it satisfied a set of "suspensive conditions" imposed by Nersa, the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, told a livestreamed media briefing.

COP28: IAEA launches fusion energy discussion
12 December, 2023
Fusion is developing fast and gaining momentum as a climate solution, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said at a special event at COP28 in Dubai. The event highlighted the critical turning point reached by fusion energy and the growing consensus that international partnerships in fusion are the way forward.

TerraPower signs MOUs with ENEC and Uranium Energy Corp
06 December, 2023
US-based TerraPower has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UAE’s Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on the sidelines of COP28 to explore opportunities for the commercialisation and global deployment of Terrapower’s Natrium technology. “Bringing advanced nuclear technologies to market is critical to meeting global decarbonisation targets,” said TerraPower President & CEO Chris Levesque. “TerraPower and ENEC are leading the way in deploying nuclear plants, and this agreement allows us to share our expertise and design experience, and explore the opportunity for deployment of Natrium reactors around the world including additional locations in the United States.”

JT-60SA fusion device inaugurated in Japan
06 December, 2023
The Japan Torus-60 Super Advanced (JT-60SA) fusion device, the world's largest operational superconducting tokamak, has been launched at Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science & Technology (QST) in Naka in a joint ceremony by Japan and the European Union (EU). The ceremony was attended by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson; Japan’s Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology, Masahito Moriyama; and Japan’s Minister of State for Science & Technology Policy, Sanae Takaichias well as other senior politicians and industry representatives. They were able to witness a plasma operation from the control room.

IAEA Opens Atoms4Climate Pavilion at COP28
05 December, 2023
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has opened its Atoms4Climate pavilion at the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) which is being held in Dubai. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi launched almost two weeks of activities and events at the IAEA pavilion aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of nuclear technology and applications in both mitigating and adapting to the effects of the climate crisis.

US DOE issues HALEU deconversion request for proposals
01 December, 2023
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for deconversion services to help establish a reliable domestic supply of fuels for advanced reactors using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). DOE plans to award one or more contracts to deconvert HALEU as uranium hexafluoride gas to various chemical forms, such as metal or oxide, used to fabricate the fuels required by many advanced reactor developers. DOE said the deconverted material will be stored until there is a need to ship it to a fuel fabricator or other end user.

Rosatom completes dismantling of floating technical base Lepse
29 November, 2023
Rosatom has finally completed dismantling of floating technical base (FTB) Lepse after 10-years of work. Construction of the Lepse began in 1934 at the Nikolaev shipyards as a regular timber transport (dry cargo carrier). However, it was never used for its intended purpose – it was scuttled when the Germans attacked the city during World War II. Attempts to restore the ship after the war proved difficult and it was handed over to Leningrad shipbuilders, where, in 1961, it was reconstruction of as a FTB for servicing the Russian nuclear fleet. The ship was equipped with a storage facility for used nuclear fuel, tanks for the collection and temporary storage of liquid radioactive waste, and production facilities for carrying out technological operations with reactor equipment.

Reactor pressure vessel delivered to Akkuyu 3
14 November, 2023
The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) has been delivered by Rosatom to the construction site of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkiye, following a 3,150 km voyage by sea. The RPV is a vertical cylindrical vessel with an elliptical bottom, which will contain the core, devices for control and protection systems of the reactor, structural elements for to control the nuclear reaction and to transfer thermal energy to the coolant. The RPV, which weighs 347.5 tonnes in shipping packaging, is 11.45 metres long and 5.7 metres wide. It was manufactured at the Atommash plant, part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division.