The nuclear energy industry provides more numerous, better-paid and more highly-trained jobs than does the wind power sector, according to a technical position paper published today by World Nuclear Association. It provides around 25% more employment per unit of electricity generated.
 

Atommash has completed hydraulic tests on the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant under construction for Bangladesh. Atommash is part of Atomenergomash, the engineering division of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

A group of 32 companies and organisations from the UK nuclear supply chain have formed a consortium to encourage the government to support a state-guaranteed financing model for Sizewell C, the proposed new nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast. The Sizewell C Consortium said today it intends to sign agreements that ensure 70% of the project's construction value would go to UK companies.

Idaho National Laboratory has awarded BWX Technologies Inc a USD26 million, 20-month contract to expand and upgrade its manufacturing line for TRISO nuclear fuel. The award, to BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc, will expand its capacity for the manufacture of TRISO fuel compacts and also upgrade existing systems for delivering production-scale quantities of the fuel, BWXT said.

US company X-energy has announced it is to be the exclusive counterparty to supply fuel to Japan's high-temperature gas-cooled reactor under a teaming arrangement with Nuclear Fuel Industries of Japan.

World Nuclear Association has published a first-of-a-kind Expanded Summary of the latest edition of its biennial nuclear fuel report. The Association is making the summary, which describes the major conclusions of the 2019 edition of the report, freely available.

Canada and the USA last week reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening supply chains for critical minerals including uranium in their first working group meetings since finalising a bilateral collaboration agreement earlier this year.

The European Commission should acknowledge the importance of harmonising the European nuclear supply chain and support EU Member States in reviewing their regulatory framework to enable the use of modern high-quality components manufactured for other industries, according to Foratom. The European nuclear trade body said a strong and harmonised European nuclear supply chain can also help the EU revive its economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bruce Power will be carrying out a second harvest of cobalt-60, which is used to sterilise medical equipment, as part of the company's COVID-19 response, CEO Mike Rencheck said yesterday. An initiative launched three weeks ago to leverage Ontario's nuclear supply chain in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is already delivering results, he said.

A bipartisan group of US Senators has called for the Department of Commerce to extend the Russian Suspension Agreement, as recommended by the Nuclear Fuel Working Group.

A newly released Euratom Supply Agency report has identified the three biggest threats to the availability of nuclear fuel in the EU - a lack of transport hubs open to nuclear shipments; a lack of investment in conversion facilities; and permanent reduction of production and withdrawal from uranium exploration.

Production figures issued by Cameco and Kazatomprom for the first quarter of 2020 show a slight decrease on the same period last year, while those announced by the US Energy Information Administration show an 86% year-on-year fall from US facilities. This follows a year when US uranium production was the lowest on record.