The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 3 at the Sanmen nuclear power plant, China National Nuclear Corporation has announced. It marks the official start of construction of the first of two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors planned as Phase II of the site in China's Zhejiang province.

Utility SaskPower has selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's small modular reactor for potential deployment in the province in the mid-2030s after an assessment process in which it looked at several SMR technologies.

Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall announced it is initiating a pilot study looking at the conditions for constructing at least two small modular reactors adjacent to the Ringhals nuclear power plant.

The US government, working with NuScale Power, is to provide USD14 million in support for the Front-End Engineering and Design study for Romania's deployment of a first-of-its-kind small modular reactor plant as part of a flagship project launched at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Germany.

EDF Energy has released a series of photos showing how work has progressed on the construction of Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power station in the UK for three decades.

Unit 6 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province has entered commercial operation, China General Nuclear has announced. The unit is the second of two ACPR-1000 reactors built as Phase II of the plant.

Orano Federal Services and TerraPower will gain access to the US Department of Energy's national laboratories to help advance their nuclear technologies under the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative.
 

Polish state-owned energy company Enea SA has signed an agreement with US small modular reactor developer Last Energy to cooperate on the deployment of SMRs, potentially in Poland. Meanwhile, France's EDF has signed further cooperation agreements with Polish companies to support its offer to supply 4 to 6 EPRs in Poland.

The US space agency NASA has selected three design concepts for a 40KW nuclear power system designed to last at least 10 years in the lunar environment to help "lay the groundwork for powering our long-term human presence on other worlds".

Tractebel will lead the PULSAR consortium conducting research on dynamic radioisotope power systems fuelled by plutonium-238 for space applications - to provide spacecraft and astronauts with electricity and heat when the sun does not supply enough power.