Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power and Westinghouse have signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral technical cooperation. The companies hope their collaboration will boost their overseas revenues.

The USA's first new nuclear power reactor in 20 years - Watts Bar 2 - entered commercial operation yesterday, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced.

The first nuclear operators for Vogtle units 3 and 4 have passed their initial US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing examination. The examination is the culmination of nearly four years of training for the operators.

 Preparations by plant operators, rigorous design and operating procedures and a coordinated industry and government response ensured that nuclear power plants in the south-eastern USA were undamaged by the first major hurricane to hit continental USA in 11 years.

The Russian government has "suspended" a 2013 agreement with the USA on nuclear energy research and development and "terminated" another, signed in 2010, on cooperation in the conversion of Russian research reactors to low-enriched uranium fuel. The decisions were issued in separate documents signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and published on the government's website on 5 October.

Power ascension testing has been completed at Watts Bar 2, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced yesterday. The unit is now producing over 1150 MWe of energy as it begins preparations for commercial operation.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday awarded Mid-America Conversion Services, a joint venture of Atkins, Fluor and Westinghouse, a $318 million five-year contract to operate facilities to convert depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at its plants at Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio.

The full-scope operator training simulator at unit 2 of the Fermi nuclear power plant in Michigan is to be upgraded by Canada-based L-3 MAPPS under contracts signed with operator DTE Energy.

The economics and financing of nuclear power projects and the markets in which they operate was discussed last week by a high level panel at the World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium. While some countries are investing in new nuclear capacity, some market conditions are forcing the closure of existing reactors, participants said.

The current supply of molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m is sufficient to meet domestic and global demand, but changes to the supply chain before year-end could lead to severe shortages and impact the delivery of medical care, according to a new report by the USA's National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Terrestrial Energy USA has been invited by the US Department of Energy to submit the second part of its application for a US federal loan guarantee to support the licensing and construction of its Integrated Molten Salt Reactor.

Energy Fuels will prioritize work at its Canyon mine in Arizona under a revised business plan, which focuses on sustaining the company's production capabilities whilst ensuring it is able to respond quickly to any changes in market conditions.