French engineering group Assystem has signed a cooperation agreement with newly-created French micro-reactor developer Naarea to build its ultra-compact eXtra Small Modular Reactor (XSMR). Dassault Systèmes is to supply Naarea with a cloud-based platform on which to virtually design the 1 to 40 MW molten salt reactor. Naarea expects the first units of XSMR to be produced by 2030.

Ontario Power Generation has selected the BWRX-300 small modular reactor for the Darlington new nuclear site, and will work with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to deploy the reactor. Canada's first commercial, grid-scale, SMR could be completed as early as 2028.

The US Department of Energy has awarded funding to the Nuclear Alternative Project to study the potential siting of small reactors in Puerto Rico. Funding also goes to address hurdles to the use of small reactors in commercial shipping and to support the development of advanced reactor designs. 

Holtec International has finalised an agreement with Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea for the turnkey supply of Holtec's SMR-160 small modular reactor plant worldwide. Holtec is considering deploying the first SMR-160 at Oyster Creek in New Jersey, where it is currently in the process of decommissioning a former boiling water reactor.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a draft safety evaluation report indicating its initial acceptance of Kairos Power's source term methodology for its Kairos Power fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor. The topical report, which Kairos submitted to the regulator in June 2020, is the first of its kind to be reviewed by the NRC.

The US Department of Energy is funding an independent review by a technical advisory body to Ukraine's nuclear regulator of the NuScale Power Module Safety Analysis Report. This review will be made available to any utility in Ukraine interested in deploying NuScale Power's small modular reactor technology.

Southern Company and the US Department of Energy have signed an agreement to design, construct and operate the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment - a proof-of-concept critical fast-spectrum salt reactor. Southern will lead a collaborative effort to build the MCRE - which it says will be the world's first fast-spectrum salt reactor to achieve criticality - at Idaho National Laboratory.

NuScale Power, Prodigy Clean Energy and Kinectrics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore and inform the development of a regulatory framework to address licensing and deployment of a Prodigy Marine Power Station. The MPS would integrate up to 12 NuScale Power Modules into a marine-based nuclear power plant system.

Oklo Inc and Centrus Energy Corp have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to cooperate in the deployment of a production facility for high-assay low-enriched uranium to support the commercialisation of advanced fission plants, such as Oklo's Aurora. The companies say they are "committed" to working towards establishing domestic US HALEU production capabilities.

Rolls-Royce SMR Limited has submitted its 470 MWe small modular reactor design for entry to the UK's Generic Design Assessment regulatory process. The review of the SMR design - based on a small pressurised water reactor - will formally begin once the government has assessed the company's capability and capacity to successfully enter the GDA process.

Kemmerer in Wyoming has been selected as the preferred site for the Natrium nuclear power plant demonstration project, TerraPower has announced. The location is near the coal-fired Naughton power plant, which is due to retire in 2025, and was chosen after an extensive evaluation process and meetings with community members and leaders.

US President Joe Biden yesterday signed into law the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal). The USD1.2 trillion package is a key part of the president's Build Back Better agenda and contains a total of more than USD62 billion for the US Department of Energy to deliver a "more equitable clean energy future", including preventing the premature retirement of existing nuclear plants and investing in advanced nuclear projects.