The US International Trade Commission yesterday announced it will conduct an expedited five-year review - also known as a 'sunset' review - on the US-Russia Antidumping Suspension Agreement.

The VC Summer nuclear construction project is now over 64% complete, South Carolina Electricity & Gas (SCG&E) said in its latest progress report to the state's Public Service Commission. The substantial completion dates for the two AP1000 units are currently unchanged from previous timelines but are to be re-evaluated in light of Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy filing.

The owners of the VC Summer and Vogtle nuclear new-build projects have announced extensions to interim assessment agreements with Westinghouse. The extensions will allow work to continue at the AP1000 construction site at Summer until 26 June and Vogtle until 12 May.

Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer JSC TVEL has signed contracts for the supply of fuel and engineering services for units 1 and 2 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant. The units are Russian-supplied VVER-1000 reactors, of which two more are under construction at the site in China's Jiangsu province.

The "30-day window which ends imminently" on the fate of Westinghouse's US nuclear power plant projects is "critical" to the national interest and to the interest of the industry as a whole, Dan Lipman of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has told the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle (WNFC) conference in Toronto, Canada. Westinghouse said it would no longer spend money on the Summer and Vogtle projects, but reached an agreement with the utilities involved to allow them to pay costs during a 30-day interim period.

Kazakh uranium producer KazAtomProm said today that the "reorganisation" of Westinghouse Electric Company will have no negative impact on its financial performance. Westinghouse's shares are split between Toshiba (87%), KazAtomProm (10%) and IHI Corporation (3%).

Belarus and Russia have agreed to the delivery of the reactor pressure vessel originally built for the Baltic NPP - under construction in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad - to unit 2 of the nuclear power plant under construction in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region of Belarus, Rosatom has confirmed to World Nuclear News. The schedule for commissioning the Ostrovets 2 is uaffected and remains 2020.

China and Iran have signed the first commercial contract for the reconstruction of Iran's Arak heavy water reactor. The core of the reactor was removed as part of an international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Westinghouse Electric Company has informed South Carolina Electric & Gas that it estimates the additional cost of completing the two VC Summer AP1000 reactors to be about $1.5 billion.

The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has published its Business Plan for 1 April 2017 to 30 March 2020. Based on the third edition of NDA's Strategy, published in April 2016, the Business Plan sets out its objectives and expected progress for all 17 of its nuclear sites over the next three years, in line with the funding agreed with the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Areva and KazAtomProm have today signed a new strategic agreement to strengthen their cooperation in Kazakhstan's uranium mining sector. The agreement opens new opportunities to develop and enhance their long-standing Katco joint venture.

Russia's ASE Group and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd have announced the "final acceptance" of unit 1 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The two sides signed a joint statement yesterday confirming that ASE had met its contractual obligations to its customer for the Kudankulam 1 construction project.