France and Romania have signed a declaration of intent on cooperation in the civil nuclear field, which aims, among other things, to work "with strategic partners" to build units 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and to upgrade unit 1. The document was signed yesterday by French Prime Minister Jean Castex and his Romanian counterpart Ludovic Orban, who led a delegation of his ministers to Paris.

The lifting of economic sanctions against Iran remains an essential part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) and its signatories are committed to expanding the special purpose vehicle that enables European businesses to maintain trade with the country, according to the European Commission's foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano.

Poland will ask the European Commission to approve state aid for the construction of what will be the country's first nuclear power plants, Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski told reporters in Warsaw yesterday, according to Reuters. "It is impossible these days to build a nuclear power plant without state support," Naimski said.

After leaving the Iter project in 2003, Canada has now signed a cooperation agreement with the ITER Organisation for the transfer of Canadian-supplied tritium, and tritium-related equipment and technology. The agreement follows the signing in April 2018 of a Memorandum of Understanding to explore how Canada could participate in the project to construct the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette and Poland's Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski yesterday discussed the signing of the first intergovernmental agreement to cooperate on the development of Poland's civil nuclear power programme. Brouillette signed the agreement yesterday and it will be signed by Naimski once it is received in Warsaw.

Bruce Power and Westinghouse Electric Company have agreed to pursue applications of Westinghouse's eVinci micro reactor programme within Canada. The companies said the agreement supports efforts by the federal and provincial governments to study applications for nuclear technology to reach their goal of a Net Zero Canada by 2050.

A draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation to expand and modernise Romania's nuclear power programme has been signed between Romania and the USA. Areas for cooperation could include the completion of units 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant and the refurbishment of unit 1 at the plant.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have confirmed they have signed a final amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation. This extends the agreement through to 2040 and reduces US reliance on uranium from Russia during that time period. It is unchanged from a draft amendment released for public comment on 11 September.

The US Department of Commerce and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have finalised their agreement to extend the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation, to 2040, Hogan Lovells said yesterday. The Washington DC, USA-based law firm represented enrichment services supplier Urenco USA Inc in its effort to extend the agreement, which has governed trade between the two countries in uranium products since 1992.

South Korea's Kepco Engineering & Construction Company and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the development of floating nuclear power plants.

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the CANDU Owners Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in research and activities related to pressurised heavy water reactors. The purpose of the MoU is to advance the scientific and technical knowledge base for PHWRs and foster cooperation amongst research organisations that support PHWRs.

The USA and Bulgaria recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on civil nuclear cooperation. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov noted that nuclear energy is one of the "greenest and cleanest" energies and that is why the country wants to use "safer technology of the latest generation" and to achieve diversification of nuclear fuel.