Unit 3 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant in China’s island province of Hainan has entered commercial operation. The unit is the first of two Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors being constructed as Phase II of the plant.

Viewpoint: Fusion’s lessons from fission, as commercial deployments approach:
The prospect of fusion power plants is coming closer. But what are the lessons fusion can learn from nuclear fission in areas such as regulation, planning, public approval and finance? Ahead of the UK Fusion Forum, Tris Denton, UK Director of the Fusion Industry Association, considers the issues.

A consortium led by France-headquartered innovative reactor developer Newcleo has been awarded funding to develop the conceptual design of a nuclear barge able to host multiple 200 MWe small modular reactors.

IAEA project focuses on research reactor testing of fuels and materials:
A four-year project aims to develop technical guidance to help produce more effective, safer and efficient testing of new reactor and fuel technologies in research reactors.

Radiant’s 1 MWe microreactor – which is designed to be transportable – is making the journey from California to the DOME test bed at Idaho National Laboratory on the back of a truck.

Slovakia’s newest nuclear power unit, Mochovce 4 has reached critical status and minimum controlled power.

The operator of the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary has announced it will have to be fully shut down within the next 72 hours because of record-low water levels in the River Danube. Romania’s Cernavoda has also shut down one of its two units.

The Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (KRISO) has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the conceptual design of a 15,000 TEU container ship powered by two small modular molten salt reactors (SMRs).

The Lithuanian state-owned company leading the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, Altra, has launched an international tender for the design and dismantling of the reactor cores of the plant’s two RBMK-1500 reactors.

Skanska contracted for Swedish repository expansion work: Construction firm Skanska has signed a contract worth about SEK1 billion (USD100 million) with Sweden’s radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB for the construction of new rock caverns at the SFR final repository for low and intermediate-level waste in Forsmark.