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International tie-up bolsters AP1000 supply chain

14 May 2013

Westinghouse and China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC) have formed a joint venture to develop the global AP1000 supply chain.

The joint venture will initially assist Chinese manufacturing companies in meeting quality and safety standards for supplying equipment and components for AP1000 plants in China.

In the longer term, the joint venture aims to help qualified Chinese suppliers export their products around the world, as well as assist global suppliers in importing their parts to China.

Regulator OKs Belgian reactor restart

17 May 2013

Doel 48Belgian reactor operator Electrabel is preparing to restart units at Tihange and Doel after national nuclear regulators confirmed that crack-like indications discovered in the reactors' pressure vessels are of no safety significance.

Westinghouse, SNPTC join forces for SMR

17 May 2013

Westinghouse SMR cutaway 48Westinghouse and China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) will work together to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) design licensable in both the USA and China.

Contract to lay out new Wylfa plant

16 May 2013

Wylfa (Magnox Sites)_48Work to develop the design of Horizon Nuclear Power's proposed new plant at Wylfa in the UK is set to start.

Garoña licence renewal option sought

17 May 2013

Garona - Foronuclear 48Spanish utility Nuclenor has requested a partial revocation of a ministerial order allowing an extension to the operating licence application deadline for the shut Garoña nuclear power plant, enabling a possible restart.

Public comment on French waste disposal

16 May 2013

Cigeo vision (Andra) 69x48Plans for the Cigéo facility to dispose of radioactive waste at Bure in France have reached the stage of final public consultation.

Industry calls for decarbonisation focus

15 May 2013

Europe faces a "lost decade" in low carbon development, the continent's electricity industry association Eurelectric has warned, due to signals that detract from the ultimate goals of energy policy.

Industry Talk

Moniz confirmed

The US Senate has confirmed the appointment of Ernest Moniz as US Energy Secretary in a unanimous vote. He is currently a professor of Physics and Engineering Systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and director of its Energy Initiative and its Laboratory for Energy and the Environment.

Hot tests at Hongyanhe 2

Unit 2 of the Hongyanhe plant in Liaoning province in northeast China - one of four CPR-1000 reactors being constructed there - moved a step closer to starting up with the commencement of hot tests on 10 May.

NEI officers re-elected

John F Young has been re-elected as chairman of the board of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Chris Crane has been re-elected as vice-chairman of the US nuclear industry policy organisation, while Marv Fertel is re-elected as CEO. NEI's board of directors gains two new members, joining three re-elected members, while five newly elected members join five re-elected members of the board's policy-setting executive committee.

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