The loading of fuel has started at unit 1 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant, under construction on China's southern island province of Hainan. The reactor is expected to begin operating later this year.

Italian utility Enel announced today that it has entered exclusive negotiations with Czech energy company Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH) to sell its 66% stake in Slovak nuclear power producer Slovenské Elektrárne. Enel said it may sign a binding share purchase agreement with EPH "in the coming weeks".

The installation of shield building panels has begun at the first AP1000 unit under construction at the Vogtle plant in Georgia, USA. The shield building encases the unit's containment vessel.

The first steel lining module for the containment building of Fuqing 5, China's first Hualong One unit, has been installed, plant builder China Nuclear Engineering Corporation announced. The company said the milestone marks a new phase in the civil construction of the unit.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has requested that regulators issue an operating licence for unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant.

US nuclear construction at Vogtle has reached another milestone with the lifting of Vogtle 3's CA01 module into place.

Acceptance tests have been started at unit 3 of Russia's Rostov nuclear power plant, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced yesterday. Successful completion of the tests will mark the end of pilot operation of the reactor and its readiness to be put into commercial operation, the company said.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, expects an inter-governmental agreement on the key commercial terms of a project to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant will be ready to sign this autumn.

Finnish ownership of Fennovoima, which plans to build the Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant, now exceeds 65% following new financial commitments from three domestic companies. The processing of Fennovoima's construction licence application can now proceed.

The top of the containment vessel for unit 2 of the Haiyang nuclear power plant in China's Shandong province was installed yesterday, marking another milestone in the construction of the AP1000.

The fourth reactor at Russia's Beloyarsk nuclear power plant has for the second time been brought to the minimum controlled power level, moving it a step closer to starting commercial operation.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj and the Areva-Siemens consortium have both increased the amounts claimed in arbitration over the delay in construction of the first-of-a-kind EPR at Olkiluoto.