Barack Obama has issued a presidential determination, published in the Federal Register yesterday, on a proposed agreement for cooperation between the USA and China concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

China's ACP100 multi-purpose small modular reactor (SMR) design is to undergo a safety review following the recent signing of an agreement between China National Nuclear Corporation and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

China's State Council has given final approval for construction of units 5 and 6 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in Fujian province. They will be demonstration units for the domestically-developed Hualong One reactor design.

Porvair Filtration Group has announced its role in the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor currently being developed at Tsinghua University in China. The British company said the technology has the potential to create affordable and reliable energy in some of the world's poorest and most remote countries.

Rosatom plans to open a regional centre in China "as early as" the middle of this year, the Russian state nuclear corporation announced yesterday. The announcement followed a decision taken by the company's committee on strategic partnerships, alliances, mergers and acquisitions.

China has resumed construction of new nuclear power plant projects after a hiatus of 15 months. Construction of the fifth unit of the Hongyanhe plant in Liaoning province began yesterday.

Unit 3 of the Ningde nuclear power plant in Fujian province was connected to the grid on 21 March, China General Nuclear announced yesterday. The company now has 14 power reactors in operation.

Two new Chinese nuclear power units - Yangjiang 2 and Ningde 3 - have moved closer to commissioning by being connected to the grid and achieving first criticality, respectively.

The third of four Russian-produced steam generators has now been delivered to the construction site of unit 3 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province.

The Chinese government has approved construction of two more units at the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Liaoning province, marking the first approval for new reactors in four years.

The second steam generator for the second AP1000 unit under construction at Sanmen in China's Zhejiang province has been delivered to the construction site ahead of installation.

A joint venture between France's Areva and China's Central Nuclear Control System Engineering Co has officially opened in Beijing. The new company - Areva Nuclear Safety Instrument Control Engineering Co (CASI) - will supply digital control systems for nuclear power plants.