Construction has begun on the seawater pumping station for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey, while its control rod drive mechanism has been manufactured and tested in Russia. The VVER-1200 reactor is slated to start operation in 2023.

A year-long, CAD8.4 million (USD6.6 million) contract will see Canada's Candu Energy prepare the licensing basis for two new Candu pressurised heavy water reactors at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The signing was celebrated by the governments of Romania and Canada, as well as the USA.

All four of Rooppur 1's steam generators have been lifted into position, Russia's Rosatom has announced. Separately, Rosatom's export subsidiary Atomstroyexport is working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health on a vaccination programme to protect workers at Rooppur from COVID-19. Bangladesh's first nuclear power reactor is slated to start up in 2023.

A consortium including Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare and Romania's Reinvent Energy has been awarded a contract worth about EUR20.0 million (USD22.5 million) for the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of a research facility for the development of lead-cooled reactors. The Advanced Thermo-Hydraulics Experiment for Nuclear Application facility will be built at the RATEN-ICN research centre near Pitesti in southern Romania.

Russian manufacturers are dispatching several components to Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, which is currently the largest nuclear construction site in the world with 13,000 people working on a daily basis on the site that will house four large reactors.

EDF Energy hailed the "replication effect" of series nuclear build as it completed a major lift at Hinkley Point C. Placing the first ring of unit 2's reactor building was done 25% faster than the same procedure for unit 1, the company said.

Construction work has begun at Dobrovolnoye in Russia, developing the uranium deposit beyond the pilot operation on which work started a year ago. The mine should create 300 jobs, with mining operations scheduled to begin in December 2022.

Hot functional testing of Karachi 3 in Pakistan was completed ahead of schedule on 4 November, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today. This means the second overseas Hualong One unit has entered the "fuel loading stage", the company said.

Turkey plans to build more nuclear power plants after it completes Akkuyu, the country's president said yesterday. "After Akkuyu nuclear power plant, we will swiftly begin preparations for our second and third power plants," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said. Akkuyu is expected to generate its first electricity in 2023.

Work has already started to complete Ukraine's Khmelnitsky 3 using AP1000 technology. Engineers from Westinghouse are at the site, taking stock and considering how to complete the unique project, according to plant owner Energoatom.

A contract has been signed to complete the main concrete works of Argentina's CAREM-25 small reactor. Henisa Sudamericana will employ up to 250 workers in the work, which is central to the project, according to a government announcement.

The Chinese shipbuilder Wison Heavy Industry will provide the hulls for the Cape Nagloynyn floating nuclear power plant, according to a report by TASS. The rated power of the plant has also dropped since its first announcement.