A new EU-funded project aims to improve confidence in nuclear safety by advancing the approach to seismic safety assessments for nuclear power plants. The 'methods and tools innovations for seismic risk assessment' (METIS) Horizon 2020 project is being led by France's EDF Group.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority's fusion energy experiment - the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) Upgrade tokamak at Culham Science Centre - has achieved first plasma for the first time. MAST Upgrade will be the forerunner of the UK's prototype fusion power plant - Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) - due for completion by 2040. It will also aid preparations for Iter - the world's largest science megaproject, under construction in the South of France, which intends to demonstrate fusion power on an industrial scale.

Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies (USNC-Tech) - a subsidiary of Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) - has developed a design concept as part of NASA-funded research into nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) systems for potential use in deep space travel. The concept uses a specialised variation of USNC's proprietary fully ceramic microencapsulated, tristructural isotropic fuel, developed for use in power reactors.

After leaving the Iter project in 2003, Canada has now signed a cooperation agreement with the ITER Organisation for the transfer of Canadian-supplied tritium, and tritium-related equipment and technology. The agreement follows the signing in April 2018 of a Memorandum of Understanding to explore how Canada could participate in the project to construct the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

The US Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have agreed to extend their existing cooperation by a further 10 years. One area for continued cooperation is space nuclear power and propulsion.

Framatome and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems are to collaborate on the development of a new helium-cooled, 50 MWe fast modular reactor. A demonstration of the reactor could be constructed by 2030, with commercialisation of the design by the mid-2030s.

The development and validation of modified fuel for use in the four VVER-440 reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary has now been completed, Rosatom's nuclear fuel manufacturer subsidiary TVEL announced today. The first consignment of the modified fuel is scheduled to be delivered to the Paks plant later this year.

Bruce Power and Westinghouse Electric Company have agreed to pursue applications of Westinghouse's eVinci micro reactor programme within Canada. The companies said the agreement supports efforts by the federal and provincial governments to study applications for nuclear technology to reach their goal of a Net Zero Canada by 2050.

A new EU-funded Horizon 2020 project has been launched that aims to propose innovative enhancements in the way combustible gases are managed in event of a severe accident at an operational nuclear power plant. The four-year AMHYCO project is being led by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

Finnish utility Fortum and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have entered into a three-year cooperation to create an open source tool for techno-economic modelling of small modular reactor projects.

South Korea's Kepco Engineering & Construction Company and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the development of floating nuclear power plants.

Harworth Group plc has announced the completion of the UK Atomic Energy Authority's new nuclear fusion technology research facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. When it opens later this year, the 2500-square-metre facility will develop and test joining technologies for fusion materials and components, including novel metals and ceramics.