Greg Clark, the UK's secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, today spoke “candidly” about the unprecedented financial terms offered to Hitachi ahead of the company’s decision to suspend its new nuclear power plant project.

Unit 2 of the Haiyang nuclear power plant in China's Shandong province has completed 168 hours of full-power continuous operation and is now deemed to be in commercial operation. It becomes the fourth AP1000 unit in China to reach the milestone.

All the main equipment has now been installed at the first of two demonstration Hualong One units under construction at the Fuqing site in China's Fujian province. Installation of the steam generators has begun at the second unit.

Rosatom expects a site to be selected for Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant by the end of March and a construction contract to be signed by the end of this year.

India currently expects to bring 21 new nuclear power reactors with a combined generating capacity of 15,700 MWe into operation by 2031, the country's minister of state for the Department of Atomic Energy and the Prime Minister's Office told parliament yesterday.

The US Department of Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding on the use of two of the 12 modules of a demonstration small modular reactor project planned for Idaho National Laboratory.

Unit 4 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province has entered commercial operation after completing demonstration operation at nominal capacity for 100 hours.

Many observers were surprised this year when Uzbekistan announced its decision to build a nuclear power station, which will be the first in Central Asia in the last 30 years, writes Jurabek Mirzakhmudov, director general of UzAtom, the state nuclear agency which was established in July.

Finland's Fennovoima now expects to receive the construction licence for its planned Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant in 2021. Start of commercial operation of the Russian-supplied plant has been put back four years to 2028.

Cold hydrostatic testing has been completed at unit 3 of the United Arab Emirates' four-unit Barakah nuclear power plant, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has announced.

Unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in Guangdong province has completed all commissioning work and is qualified for commercial operation, China General Nuclear announced yesterday. It becomes the first EPR reactor to reach the milestone.

The reactor pressure vessel has been installed at Fuqing unit 6, China's second demonstration Hualong One unit, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today.