Bechtel Corp highlighted "significant issues" at the VC Summer project 18 months before construction of two AP1000 reactors at the site in Fairfield County, South Carolina, was scrapped in July. Difficulties, such as flawed construction plans, faulty designs, inadequate management and low worker morale, were outlined in the engineering, construction and project management company's independent analysis of the project dated February 2016.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has signed contracts with several domestic companies to develop technologies for decommissioning Kori unit 1, which was permanently shut down in June. It is the first South Korean reactor to enter decommissioning.

The Sultanate of Oman is to become a long-term strategic investor in Berkeley Energia through an investment agreement worth up to $120 million. The investment means that the Salamanca uranium project in western Spain is now fully funded and can proceed to production.

Global engineering consultancy Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded two framework contracts by the UK's LLW Repository Ltd to carry out environmental safety case and waste characterisation work. The combined value of the contracts is about £4.0 million ($5.1 million).

Canadian company L3 MAPPS is to update the simulator it supplied in 2006 to Fermi 2 in Michigan. The update is being carried out under a contract with Swiss industrial technology company ABB.

The Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia will remain under the ownership of Paladin Energy as the company goes through administration after joint venture partner CNNC Overseas Uranium Holdings decided not to exercise its option to acquire Paladin's share of the mine. Paladin owes EDF $277 million. million,

The first steam generator has been placed in the containment of Vogtle unit 3, the first major lift carried out since Southern Nuclear took charge of oversight activities at the AP1000 construction site in Georgia.

South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCG&E) has decided to withdraw its petition seeking permission from state regulators to abandon construction of two AP1000 reactors at its VC Summer plant. The move, the company said, would allow government officials to complete reviews of the project.

The USA's Holtec International has announced the early completion of all major civil construction work associated with the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) expansion project at Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The facility is undergoing complete defueling of its pool as a prelude to decommissioning.

Companies are being invited to bid for a contract to demolish the Dounreay Materials Test Reactor in Scotland. A contract notice will appear in the Official Journal of the European Union for the project estimated to be worth around £7 million ($9 million) over three years. A contractor is expected to be appointed in the first half of 2018.

India's Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research has awarded Hindustan Construction Company a contract worth INR 7.64 billion ($120 million) to construct a fast reactor fuel cycle facility at Kalpakkam.

Egypt and Russia have completed their talks on contracts to build a nuclear power plant at Daba'a, according to a report from Cairo by Russian news agency TASS that cites Egypt's electricity and energy minister, Mohamed Shaker. The four draft agreements - which cover technical support, operation, maintenance, and fuel supply - require approval by the State Council, or the Supreme Administrative Court, it added.