Hydraulic pressure testing has been completed on the reactor pressure vessel for the demonstration CAP1400 unit to be built at Shidaowan in China's Shandong province.

China and Saudi Arabia have signed a cooperation agreement for a joint study on the feasibility of constructing high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) in the Middle Eastern country.

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions - the largest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions - stayed flat for the third consecutive year in 2016, the International Energy Agency announced. This was despite an expansion in the global economy.

Unit 4 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has completed commissioning tests and now meets the conditions for entering commercial operation, China General Nuclear announced yesterday.

China General Nuclear and Ultra Electronics of the UK have agreed to enhance their cooperation in the development of high-integrity instrumentation and control systems and sensors for nuclear power plants worldwide.

China will complete construction of five nuclear power reactors and start construction of eight more in 2017, according to plans released by the country's National Energy Administration. Planning for a further eight reactors will also be progressed this year.

China General Nuclear has listed its applied nuclear science and technology assets on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. CGN Nuclear Technology Development becomes China's first A-share listed company involved in non-power nuclear technology.

Germany's KSB Group has been awarded a contract to supply six reactor coolant pumps for use in the first two units of the new Zhangzhou nuclear power plant in Fujian province. Construction of the two Hualong One units is expected to begin next year.

The two EPR units under construction at the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province will not enter commercial operation until the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018, respectively. This is some six months later than originally scheduled.

France's Areva and China National Nuclear Corporation have signed a framework agreement for industrial and commercial cooperation in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Australian and Chinese researchers have made progress in understanding the mechanical properties of a new class of materials for use in molten salt reactors. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation said yesterday that NiMo-SiC alloys - prepared from nickel molybdenum metal powders with added silicon carbide particles - have superior corrosion resistance and radiation damage resistance.

The British government has asked nuclear regulators to begin a Generic Design Assessment of the UK HPR1000 reactor. This is the Hualong One design that General Nuclear Services - a subsidiary of EDF and China General Nuclear - proposes to use at a prospective new nuclear power plant in Bradwell.