GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has entered into a teaming agreement with Fermi Energia to support the potential deployment of its BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Estonia. This follows their signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in late 2019.

NuScale Power of the USA and Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant - New Build Plc have agreed to evaluate the suitability of NuScale's small modular reactor technology for deployment at the existing Kozloduy nuclear power plant site in Bulgaria. KNPP-NB is a public limited company established to commission new nuclear power capacity at the site.

Estonia needs to put in place the necessary legislation and competencies if a small modular reactor is to be in operation by 2035, speakers at a conference organised by Fermi Energia agreed yesterday. The Baltic country aims to stop generating electricity from oil shale by 2035, but has yet to officially launch a nuclear programme.

A newly signed Memorandum of Understanding could see investment of up to GBP900 million (USD1.2 billion) in the Welsh nuclear supply chain if the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project receives the go-ahead from the UK government. The MoU between the Sizewell C Consortium and the Welsh government follows news last week that Horizon Nuclear Power had withdrawn its planning application for the Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey.

A Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Canadian Nuclear Association and Foratom will strengthen the associations' efforts in advancing the development of nuclear energy, its application and deployment to meet climate change goals. The MoU will see the two organisations work together to support, amongst other things, the development and deployment of small modular reactors and advanced reactors.

Following his inauguration yesterday, US President Joseph Biden has formally signed an executive order to re-enter the Paris Climate Change Agreement and directed US departments and federal agencies to "immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis". The USA's re-entry will come into force in 30 days.

China General Nuclear is expected to acquire a 49% stake in Ortalyk LLP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom, by mid-2021. The transfer of the stake was part of cooperation agreements signed between CGN and Kazatomprom in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

"Morocco has shown a clear interest in participating in the modernised nuclear liability instruments," Karim El-Assefry, head of the Nuclear Applications and Safety Division of the country's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, said at a recent virtual seminar on civil liability for nuclear damage.

The UK and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) have signed a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. This is separate from the wider UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement that was also announced on 24 December and which has since been approved by ambassadors from the 27 EU Member States, paving the way for it to take effect on 1 January. UK lawmakers will tomorrow return to the House of Commons, the lower chamber of parliament, to vote on the so-called post-Brexit trade deal.

Swedish utility Vattenfall and Estonia's Fermi Energia have signed a Letter-of-Intent to further expand their cooperation on small modular reactors (SMRs). For the past year Vattenfall has participated in a feasibility study by Fermi Energia to explore the possibilities for the deployment of such reactors in Estonia.

India and the USA have extended their Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership by 10 years. The centre - officially opened in 2017 - supports international cooperation in nuclear energy applications.

The European Union has expressed its "resolute commitment to and continued support for" the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors. It expressed concern about Iran's continued accumulation of low enriched uranium in excess of JCPoA thresholds.