The US International Development Finance Corporation has proposed policy changes that would remove a prohibition on it providing support for nuclear power projects. This would enable the DFC to offer financing for projects to deploy technologies such as small modular reactors in developing countries.
 

Brazil's Investment Partnership Programme council has approved a plan to complete unit 3 of the Angra nuclear power plant. Created by the government to expand and strengthen the relationship between the state and the private sector, the PPI's main objective is to generate jobs and growth for the country through new investments in infrastructure projects and privatisation.

A joint venture has been formed between Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation and Ontario Power Generation to build, own and operate the proposed Micro Modular Reactor project at the Chalk River Laboratories site. The joint venture - the Global First Power Limited Partnership - is owned equally by OPG and USNC-Power, the Canadian subsidiary of USNC.

The Czech Fiscal Council, Národní rozpočtová rada, has warned that financing a new nuclear power unit could have a long-term impact on the country's budget and could be "a lot higher" than current estimates.

Russia's AEM Technologies has made its first batch of piping valves for Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant, Atomenergomash has announced. Meanwhile, another Atomenergomash subsidiary - OKB Gidropress - has shipped components for the reactor control and protection system for India's Kudankulam 4.

Investing in nuclear power as part of the post-virus recovery would help stimulate the economy and ease the path towards carbon neutrality, World Nuclear Association said on 29 May, following the ministerial roundtable on Mobilising Investments for Secure and Sustainable Power Systems that was co-hosted earlier that day by the International Energy Agency and the UK government.

Construction of the 49,000-tonne concrete basemat for the nuclear island of the second unit at Hinkley Point C has been completed. EDF Energy said the milestone had coincided with its ambition to spend GBP1.5 billion (USD1.9 billion) with regional businesses in South-West England five years ahead of target.

The 1250-tonne steel base of the cryostat - which will insulate the magnetic system at cryogenic temperature from the outside environment - has been installed at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) at Cadarache in south-eastern France. The milestone marks the installation of the first and heaviest component of the ITER fusion machine.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told reporters in Prague yesterday that the government will provide a loan to ČEZ to cover 70% of the cost of building a new unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, with the majority state-owned utility funding the remaining 30%. The project cost is estimated to be about EUR6.0 billion (USD6.7 billion), ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš told the ČTK news agency, following the press conference.

EDF Energy announced today it has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast of England. The application, which follows four rounds of public consultation that began in 2012, was deferred for two months "in recognition of the extraordinary circumstances created by the Coronavirus", the French-owned company said.

The final module - a 750,000 gallon (2.8 million litre) water tank - has been installed at Georgia Power's Vogtle unit 3. The CB-20 module is a major part of the AP1000 reactor's advanced passive safety system.

Slovenia will make a decision by 2027 at the latest on whether to build a second nuclear power plant at its existing Krško site, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec has said during a visit to the plant site on 22 May. The minister also called for an immediate start on the construction of a storage facility for low and intermediate level radioactive waste and for changes to legislation to speed up infrastructure projects.