France's Framatome has signed a long-term service contract with the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited to support operations of units 1 and 2 at the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. The 1750-megawatt EPRs entered commercial operation in December 2018 and September 2019, respectively.

Unit 2 at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington nuclear power plant has achieved first criticality after a refurbishment that has taken over three years to complete, including disassembling and rebuilding the reactor. The unit is expected to return to full service this Spring.

Teollisuuden Voima Oyj yesterday applied to the Finnish nuclear regulator for permission to load fuel into the reactor of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR. This process, which had been scheduled for June, is likely to be delayed however because of measures put in place at the plant to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Rosatom has for the first time used a new device that it says performs all types of non-destructive testing automatically and without the use of a polar crane and a reloading machine. The Kalinin plant is just over 200 miles north-west of Moscow, in the Tver region of Russia.

Electricity generation is vital in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but scheduled refuelling and maintenance outages at nuclear power plants around the world must still go ahead. Operators are introducing risk-minimising procedures so outages that have been planned years in advance can proceed, while some are being prompted to rethink or extend scheduled outages.

Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor has extended the operating licence for unit 3 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in the Sverdlovsk district by a further five years. The licence for the BN-600 fast reactor, which began operating in 1981, was due to expire this year.

The construction of the EPR unit at the Flamanville site in Normandy was authorised by the French government by a decree of 10 April 2007, which stated first fuel loading must be completed within thirteen years. With that date approaching, a new decree has extended the deadline by four years.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosatom has introduced additional measures to protect the health of workers at both its operating nuclear power plants and those it is constructing around the world. In a statement, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov said the Russian state nuclear corporation has developed additional contingency plans for various scenarios of the coronavirus pandemic.

Reconstruction of unit 2 at the Darlington nuclear power plant in Canada has been completed and the process to restart the reactor can now begin, Ontario Power Generation has announced. The company will delay the planned start of the refurbishment of Darlington 3, scheduled to begin in May, as part of its measures to ensure stable electricity supplies during the COVID-19 crisis.

Energoatom yesterday announced the introduction of measures to protect its key workers from exposure to COVID-19. They are being housed in separate rooms within specially appointed hotels, where all the necessary measures for disinfection and medical monitoring are being carried out, the Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator said.

French utility EDF has scrapped its nuclear generation target for 2020 on an anticipated fall in output this year because of the coronavirus crisis. Fuel cycle company Orano has likewise suspended its financial outlook for this year.

Bruce Power has outlined the steps it is taking to ensure the Bruce nuclear power plant continues to provide reliable electricity for Ontario whilst maintaining the supply of cobalt-60 for medical sterilisation. The Major Component Replacement project at the Canadian plant remains on schedule but activities will be narrowed to essential tasks as it moves to the next stage of its COVID-19 response, the company said on 20 March.