The European Commission today pledged to the Nuclear Safety Account fund the largest part of the €45 million ($51 million) expected from the G7 and the Commission in addition to the existing support. This fund supports in particular the safe decommissioning of units 1 to 3 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Ukraine's Energoatom has said it would need at least two years and extra funds to introduce load-following at the 15 VVER units it operates. The Cabinet of Ministers requires the country's reactors to be adapted to load-following mode by the end of this year, according to its Action Plan for 2016.

Julie Bishop, the Australian foreign minister, yesterday signed an agreement with Ukrainian energy and coal industry minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn that clears the way for Australia to export uranium to Ukraine.

A consortium of four German companies has been awarded a contract to improve infrastructure for managing radioactive waste, the rehabilitation of contaminated areas and the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

Westinghouse Electric has delivered the first batch of "upgraded" nuclear fuel assemblies to the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with fuel loading at unit 5 planned for May, pending regulatory approval.

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved a revised project to upgrade the South Ukraine nuclear power plant's water supply system, increasing its annual electricity output by up to 2.5 terawatt hours. Energoatom said yesterday that the project aims to "remove restrictions" on the plant caused by the insufficient cooling capacity of the Tashlykskaya reservoir.

French diplomats met with Ukrainian parliamentarians last week to discuss increased cooperation between the two countries in nuclear energy. Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom announced on 29 January that a meeting with the parliamentary Committee on the Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety had been held the previous day on the initiative of the French embassy in Kiev.

The board of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has approved the continued operation of unit 2 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant until the end of 2025. The unit was shut down on 10 May, two days before the expiry of its design lifetime, for major upgrading over 300 days costing $114 million to enable a 10-year life extension.

SSE ChNPP said yesterday that the first 10 canisters for the dry interim fuel storage facility (ISF-2) had been delivered to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. ISF2 is in the final construction stage under a contract Ukraine signed with US-based Holtec International in 2007. To be completed this year, it will be used to store all the used fuel on the site for at least 100 years.

Energoatom and Westinghouse have signed a contract for the extension of Ukraine's use of TVS-WR fuel assemblies to the Zaporozhe nuclear power plant. The agreement concerns testing of Westinghouse software at the plant.

Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power plant operator, has highlighted its progress in working closely with European companies and institutions since opening an office in Brussels a year ago. The latest evidence of this is the signing announced today of an agreement with French engineering firm Areva.

The technology for the production of dry storage casks for used nuclear fuel will be transferred by Holtec International to Ukraine's Turboatom under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies and Ukraine's nuclear power plant operator EnergoAtom.