Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is this week discussing the prospect of closer economic and political ties, including nuclear energy projects, in a number of African countries. Lavrov has so far visited Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and will complete his trip to the region in Ethiopia tomorrow.
AEM Technology has completed the manufacture of the bottom of the reactor vessel for unit 1 of the Kursk II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia. This is the first of the VVER-TOI (typical optimised, with enhanced information) design nuclear reactors.
Russia's Rosatom has completed concreting the foundation of unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. ASE Group, a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear corporation, said today the project to build the Asian country's first nuclear power unit was on schedule.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan today attended via videolink from Ankara a ceremony to mark the pouring of first safety-related concrete for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Putin arrived today for a two-day working visit to the Turkish capital.
TVEL, Rosatom's nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary, has signed an agreement with Fortum Power and Heat Oy to supply modified nuclear fuel assemblies to be used at the Loviisa 1 and 2 VVER 440s in Finland. Rosatom said yesterday the agreement is in addition to TVEL's existing fuel supply contract with the Finnish utility.
Unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant in northwest Russia has today entered "experimental industrial operation", the final stage of its commissioning. The VVER 1200 reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation before the end of this year.
Russia has opened its uranium mining industry to foreign investment with an agreement signed yesterday between the Russia-China Investment Fund for Regional Development, ARMZ Uranium Holding, and Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (PIMCU). ARMZ and PIMCU are subsidiaries of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Russia has today connected unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant to the grid and it has started producing its first power, state nuclear corporation Rosatom has announced. The VVER 1200 reactor was brought to the minimum controllable power level on 6 February.
Russia, Bangladesh and India yesterday signed a memorandum on cooperation in the implementation of the Rooppur nuclear power plant project. Construction of Bangladesh's first nuclear power reactor, Rooppur 1, officially began in late November 2017.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the director general of Rosatom yesterday for an update on the state nuclear corporation's performance and investment strategy. The former deputy minister of economic development and trade, Alexey Likhachov took over the helm of Rosatom in October 2016, when Putin appointed Sergey Kirienko as first deputy head of the Presidential Administration.
Unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant has entered the power start-up phase, following Russian regulator Rostechnadzor's approval to do so, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced yesterday. Power start-up entails bringing the unit to 50% of its power generation capacity in preparation for commercial operation.
Russian regulator Rostechnadzor has issued a licence for the final stage of the start-up procedure - pilot operation - at unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant, which is near the city of Volgodonsk.