Westinghouse Electric Company and Ukrainian company NT-Engineering LLC have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to implement maintenance optimisation and system repair projects for VVER reactors. They said the work will increase the safety levels and performance of Ukrainian VVERs, improving annual power output and reducing operational costs.

Spain's nuclear power generating industry will not be able to continue operating if a draft law approved on 14 September by the Council of Ministers is enacted, according to the country's nuclear industry forum Foronuclear. The law, together with other proposed measures, would impose an "excessive tax burden" on the industry, which Foronuclear says would make the continued operation of nuclear power plants economically unfeasible. Under Spain's nuclear phase-out policy, its nuclear fleet is scheduled to shut down by 2035.

Exelon Generation Company has formally reversed its decision to retire the Byron and Dresden nuclear plants after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law the state's new energy legislation package yesterday. The final version of the bill was passed by the Illinois Senate earlier this week.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority today formally accepted a report concluding unit 2 of Chugoku Electric Power Company's Shimane nuclear power plant meets the country's new safety standards. The utility must still obtain local consent before the 789 MWe boiling water reactor can be restarted.

Unit 2 at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE has today begun supplying electricity to the country's power grid, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation announced. The milestone was reached five months after unit 1 of the plant, in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, entered commercial operation.

The first of the two high-temperature gas-cooled reactors of the demonstration HTR-PM plant at Shidaowan, in China's Shandong province, attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time yesterday. The reactor is scheduled to be connected to the electricity grid before the end of this year.

Slovenské Elektrárne has strengthened operational safety at unit 3 of Slovakia's Mochovce nuclear power plant ahead of commercial operation, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team said the plant management had made significant progress in addressing the findings of a previous IAEA review in 2019.

Finnish utility Fortum today submitted its environmental impact assessment report for the Loviisa nuclear power plant to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The report assesses the environmental impacts of a potential extension of the operation of the plant's two VVER-440 pressurised water reactors or, alternatively, the decommissioning of the plant, as well as the environmental impacts of the final disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.

Nuclear reactors generated a total 2553 TWh of electricity in 2020, down from 2657 TWh in 2019, according to the latest World Nuclear Performance Report released by the World Nuclear Association. Despite the small decline, the Association's Director General, Sama Bilbao y León, said "the resilience and flexibility shown by the global nuclear fleet tell a very positive story."

The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group has started its second review at Belarus' Ostrovets nuclear power plant. Experts from eight European countries will spend three days verifying that recommended safety improvements have been carried out.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has announced the start-up of the second unit at UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant, thirteen months after Barakah unit 1 reached first criticality. Unit 2's start-up sees Barakah become the first multi-unit nuclear power plant in the region.

Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger has called on President Joe Biden to consider the use of emergency powers to keep the Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants in operation, at least until the enactment of new state or federal laws to ensure a "level playing field" for such plants. Separately, Exelon said its Illinois nuclear fleet, including Byron and Dresden, operated at full power levels during the hottest July on record.