The reactor pressure vessel for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey was delivered to the site yesterday, Rosatom has announced. The equipment was transported 3000 km over 20 days from the Atommash quay at the Tsimlyanskoye reservoir in Volgodonsk, Russia to the Eastern Cargo Terminal at the Akkuyu plant site, which is in Mersin province. Atommash is a subsidiary of Russia's AEM Technology.

Rosatom plans to build a nuclear power plant equipped with an RITM-200 small modular reactor in the village of Ust-Kuyga, in Yakutia, which is in Far Eastern Russia. The land-based small nuclear plant will be able to supply electricity to isolated power systems or remote areas and consumers.

The Leningrad 2 nuclear power unit in in Sosnovy Bor in Western Russia was shut down permanently today. The RBMK, which has been in operation for 45 years, is to be replaced by Leningrad II-2, a VVER-1200, which on 6 November received regulatory approval to start pilot operation.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has inaugurated the country's first nuclear power reactor. Lukashenko visited the site in Ostrovets on 7 November, where he witnessed the increase in the generating capacity of unit 1 to 400 MW. The unit, which was connected to the grid five days ago, is the first of the VVER-1200 design to be built outside Russia.

Russian regulator Rostekhnadzor today issued a permit for the start of pilot operation at unit 2 of the Leningrad II nuclear power plant in western Russia. Pilot operation is the final and longest check of the power unit before commissioning and will last about four months, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said. During this time, the power of the reactor will be increased in stages to 100% and undergo about 200 system tests.

Unit 1 of the first nuclear power plant to be built in Belarus has been connected to the grid and is supplying electricity, Rosatom announced today. The Russian state nuclear corporation describes the VVER-1200 design, of which the Ostrovets unit is the first to be built outside Russia, as "the backbone" of its export portfolio that comprises 36 units across 12 markets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order, On the Strategy for Developing the Russian Arctic Zone and Ensuring National Security until 2035, which foresees the construction of at least five new nuclear-powered icebreakers of the Project 22220 series, and three of the Project 10510 series. The vessels are needed to ensure year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route.

The board of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Belarus has issued a permit for the power start-up of unit 1 of the country's first nuclear power plant, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced today. Based on the resolution of the State Regulatory Authority of Belarus, the board agreed on 23 October to amend the licences of the Belorusian NPP and JSC ASE EC, allowing this work to begin, Rosatom said.

Unit 2 of the Leningrad II nuclear power plant in Sosnovy Bor, in Western Russia, was connected to the national grid today for the first time. Following this trial operation, the unit will be shut down for an additional equipment inspection by a state commission, Rosatom said, before being put into commercial operation, which is scheduled for 2021. The new unit will replace Leningrad unit 2, which is an RBMK-1000 reactor.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that Rosatom Technical Academy has become the first IAEA Collaborating Centre to extend its work with the Vienna-based agency into three different programmatic areas: nuclear sciences and applications, nuclear security and nuclear energy.

Rusburmash has completed geophysical surveys at the Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit in the Zverinogolovsky district of the Kurgan region of Russia and JSC Dalur has now started the construction of a pilot site for in-situ leaching of uranium there.

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.