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Bulgaria Pays Belene NPP Debt
13 December, 2016
Bulgaria's state-owned electricity utility company (NEK) on 8 December transferred the full amount of its debt to Russia's Atomstroyexport, part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which it owed for the cancelled Belene NPP project, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova told parliament. The €602m ($636m) debt has to be paid by the deadline of 15 December, thereby avoiding nearly €30m in interest that it would have had to pay under the International Court of Arbitration ruling of 14 June. In return, Bulgaria will receive reactors and nuclear equipment produced for the project and will seek to use them and build the plant as a private project and with other partners.

A long and winding road?
17 November, 2016
Following the recent decision by the UK government to approve Hinkley Point C Rumyana Vakarelska lifts the lid on the challenges the project still faces.

Rumours of Rosatom director’s departure cause dismay
30 September, 2016
Sergei Kiriyenko, Director General of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, is expected to be appointed to a new post as first deputy head of the presidential (Kremlin) administration, replacing Vyacheslav Volodin, who has been appointed speaker of the Duma (lower house of parliament), according to Russian media reports. However, neither Kiriyenko nor the Kremlin have confirmed the reports. Kiriyenko’s press secretary, Sergei Novikov, said he does not respond to rumours, while Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said he had “reliable information” that Kiriyenko was still head of Rosatom.

Hinkley project still uncertain
30 August, 2016
A new report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), ‘Hinkley What If?’, says the UK does not need the Hinkley Point C NPP in order to meet its energy needs. ECIU director Richard Black said: "We wanted to know how essential Hinkley is for the 'energy trilemma' - keeping the lights on whilst cutting greenhouse gas emissions and keeping costs down. Our conclusion is that it's not essential; using tried and tested technologies, with nothing unproven or futuristic, Britain can meet all its targets and do so at lower cost."

Ukraine looks to NPP life extension amid safety concerns
24 August, 2016
Unit 1 at the Khmelnitsky NPP in Ukraine has started deploying an integrated reactor diagnostic system at the VVER-1000 reactor during a scheduled preventive maintenance outage, nuclear utility Energoatom said on 23 August.

Japan’s Ikata NPP to restart in August
03 August, 2016
Shikoku Electric Power Co plans to restart unit 3 at its Ikata NPP in the western Japan prefecture of Ehime on 11 August, according to Japanese press reports. The reactor is expected to start power generation and transmission around 14 August. Shikoku Electric had planned to resume the reactor's operations on 26 July, but was unable to do so because a coolant pump flaw was discovered and some parts needed to be replaced. Ikata 3 is an 890MWe pressurized light-water reactor, which uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel to generate electricity. Its commercial operations could begin in September at the earliest, the reports said.

Tepco concealed core meltdowns during Fukushima accident
24 June, 2016
Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), admitted on 21 June that the company had concealed the reactor meltdowns at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant immediately after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The utility did not officially admit the meltdowns until more than 2 months after the accident.

Rosatom sets up investment fund for foreign projects
10 May, 2016
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has established an investment fund for its overseas projects, according to JSC Akkuyu Nuclear, its project company for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey. The fund is to be headed by JSC Akkuyu Nuclear’s former general director Fuad Akhundov, who has been appointed deputy chairman of the company's board of directors. Oleg Titov will become Acting General Director of Akkuyu Nuclear.

Rosatom dismisses reports of possible sale of stake in Turkish NPP
29 April, 2016
Sergey Kirienko, director general of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has dismissed as speculation press reports that the corporation plans to sell a 49% stake in the project company for Turkey’s Akkuyu NPP. He told reporters, "We haven't changed anything. There's no news."

Surry to seek 80-year operation
30 March, 2016
Dominion Virginia Power’s Surry plant could become the first US nuclear plant to be allowed to operate for up to 80 years. Thecla Fabian reports.

Fukushima accident still under scrutiny
01 March, 2016
A new report by the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) - 'Five years after the Fukushima-Daiichi accident: nuclear safety improvements and lessons learnt' – says experience during the accident "highlighted the need to reconsider approaches to information sharing and assessment, both domestically and internationally". Nuclear regulators internationally should "continue improving" their communication strategies, despite progress made since the March 2011 accident, it notes.

Uncertainty over Hinkley Point echoed by Hitachi
01 February, 2016
Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman and CEO of Hitachi, said on 30 January that the setbacks experienced by EDF in developing the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK raised questions about how future NPPs, including its GBP14bn ($19.9bn) Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey are to be funded.

EDF delays Hinkley Point decision
28 January, 2016
Electricite de France (EDF) is seeking additional funding to finance its planned GBP18bn ($25.8bn) nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C in the UK.

Japan to restart Takahama 3 with mox fuel
24 January, 2016
Kansai Electric Power Co plans to restart unit 3 at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture on 29 January, according to Japanese media reports.