Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare has signed a contract with Canada's SNC-Lavalin for the supply of engineering services for plant life extension of unit 1 at Romania's Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The project is one of the preparatory activities for modernisation awarded by Romania's nuclear energy company Nuclearelectrica to SNC-Lavalin.

A two-year USD65 million agreement will see Candu Energy, part of SNC-Lavalin Group, conduct pre-project work for the lifetime extension of unit 1 of Romanian nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica's Cernavoda nuclear power plant.

US utility Constellation has announced it will invest USD800 million in new equipment to increase the output of its Braidwood and Byron nuclear power plants in Illinois by some 135 MWe. They were among the Illinois nuclear plants saved from premature retirement by passage of the state Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021.

Czech energy company ČEZ is making investments at both its Dukovany and Temelín nuclear power plants to allow their long-term operation. A contract with Framatome will see the modernisation of the existing instrumentation and control Spinline testers for safety systems at the four units at Dukovany.

Czech utility ČEZ says it will invest more than CZK2.3 billion (USD105 million) at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, mainly aimed at ensuring "safe and reliable operation until at least 2047". All four units are also switching to 16-month fuel cycles.

Canada's nuclear regulator has given Ontario Power Generation the go-ahead to load fuel into Darlington unit 3 after removing the first regulatory hold-point for the refurbished reactor.

Bruce Power is advancing a project to establish the necessary nuclear carbon offset protocol to allow new incremental nuclear output to be accredited for an avoided emissions benefit, to quantify and validate the vital role nuclear power plays in decarbonising Ontario's electricity sector.

Unit 2 of Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar nuclear power plant has returned to service following the completion of a project to replace all four of its original steam generators.

The US Administration has issued a new report setting out initial priorities - including fusion - it says will enable it to reach net-zero by 2050, and is providing more than USD1.5 billion under Inflation Reduction Act funding to upgrade facilities and modernise infrastructure at the national laboratories which will undertake the research and innovation to support this.

Workers from Rosatom subsidiary Ural Atomenergoremont have completed an overhaul of major components at unit 3 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in the Sverdlovsk district of Russia. The BN-600 fast reactor began operating in 1981.

The US government has announced USD150 million in funding provided by President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act for infrastructure improvements at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory to enhance nuclear energy research and development.

Fuel channel installation has been completed at Darlington unit 3, and the unit is now expected to return to service by late 2023 - several months earlier than planned - Ontario Power Generation has announced. The unit is the second of four Darlington units to undergo a mid-life overhaul.