First concrete has been poured for the nuclear islands of unit 1 of the Bailong nuclear power plant in China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and of unit 2 at the Lufeng plant in Guangdong province, marking the official start of construction of the two CAP1000 reactors.

Restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactors approved by regional assembly.
The Niigata Prefectural Assembly has backed Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi’s decision to approve the restart of units 6 and 7 at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

Europe Approves State Aid For Poland Nuclear Station, First Concrete Planned For 2028
The European Commission has given its approval for Poland to finance its first commercial nuclear power station with public aid estimated at PLN 60 billion (€14.2bn, $16.5bn).

The five initial selections for end user experiments at Idaho National Laboratory’s Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) reactor include projects related to data centres, technology application in commercial and advanced reactors, and applications for nuclear-generated process heat.

Unit 2 of the Doel nuclear power plant in Belgium’s Flanders region has been taken offline for the final time after 50 years of operation and disconnected from the grid. Its closure is in line with Belgium’s nuclear phase-out policy, under which four other reactors have already been shut down.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the country has “unique solutions that can be utilised for powering data processing centres” and the plan is “to transition to the serial production of small floating and land-based nuclear stations”.

UK Chooses Wylfa For First SMRs And Announces Start Of Site Selection For New Large-Scale Nuclear Plants.
The UK has chosen the island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast to host Britain’s first small modular reactors, designed by Rolls-Royce SMR, in a significant step forward for the industry.

China Announces Thorium-Uranium Conversion Breakthrough At Gobi Desert Experimental Reactor
An experimental reactor developed in the Gobi Desert by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics has achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion, paving the way for an abundant supply of nuclear energy.