The installation of the second tier of the reactor building's internal containment has been completed at unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant under construction in Mersin province, southern Turkey. The inner containment is one of the critical components of unit's safety systems, which prevent the release of radioactive materials to the environment, said JSC Akkuyu Nuklear.

The construction licence application for two VVER-1200 reactors at the existing Paks site was submitted to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority yesterday by Paks II Limited. The regulator said it has 12 months in which to make a decision on the application, but this period can be extended by three months if required.

A group of companies, trade unions and individuals have launched an initiative to develop a Clean Energy Hub centred on a package of nuclear projects at Moorside in Cumbria, north-west England. The proposal is based on projects including a new 3.2 GW UK EPR plant, as well as small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors, with links to technologies including renewables and hydrogen production.

Rosenergoatom, the operator subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, announced today that preparatory work for the construction of four new reactors has commenced. Two VVER-TOI units are to be built at a new plant near the existing Smolensk site, while two VVER-1200 units will be built as units 3 and 4 of the Leningrad II plant.

The government of Saskatchewan has announced the establishment of an office to help in the planning and development of small modular reactors (SMR) in the Canadian province. It said the new office will "coordinate nuclear policy and programme work" within the Climate Change and Adaptation Division in the Ministry of Environment.

Plans submitted by EDF Energy for a Development Consent Order for the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk have been accepted for examination by the UK's Planning Inspectorate.

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced today it has signed Memoranda of Understanding with France's Framatome and GE Steam Power of the USA to participate in a tender to construct the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria.

Russia's regulator Rostechnadzor has issued a permit for the physical start-up of Leningrad II unit 2, which completed hot tests last week. The regulator's inspection of the unit "confirmed its high degree of readiness for the start of physical launch, during which nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor core for the first time", state nuclear corporation Rosatom said today.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has issued a Request for Information to enable it to assess nuclear technologies that could be considered for a national programme to build 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity. The programme could include conventional pressurised water reactors, small modular reactors or a blend of technologies.

Work has started on installation of the main equipment for the nuclear fuel fabrication facility at the pilot energy complex in Seversk (Tomsk). Under construction at the Siberian Chemical Combine, ODEK is part of Russia’s Proryv (Breakthrough) project, which is designed to demonstrate a closed fuel cycle. SCC is part of fuel company TVEL, which is a subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Russia's Rosatom has completed hot tests at Leningrad II unit 2. Hot testing started in February and included 150 tests on major systems to check their performance under normal operational conditions, without any nuclear fuel assemblies in the reactor. The equipment was also tested under emergency conditions.

The US Department of Energy has delivered the nuclear power system for the Perseverance rover for NASA's Mars 2020 mission which is due to launch next month. The Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator was fuelled, built and tested by DOE's national laboratories.