Holtec International has selected Framatome to supply nuclear fuel for its SMR-160 small modular reactor. The companies have entered into an agreement to enable completion of all necessary engineering to fuel the SMR-160 with Framatome's commercially available and proven 17x17 GAIA fuel assembly.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has entered into a collaboration agreement with UK-based Moltex Energy. Funded through CNL's Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative, the agreement includes work to support aspects of Moltex Energy’s nuclear fuel development programme for its Stable Salt Reactor, a 300 MWe small modular reactor design.

New safety recommendations for small modular reactors (SMRs) are now available, following a meeting in Vienna on 25-28 March of the SMR Regulators' Forum, a group of experts working on the development of national standards specific to SMRs. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which hosts the forum, says it does not currently have plans to develop safety standards specific to SMRs.

Restart activities at BWX Technologies Inc's TRISO fuel manufacturing facility in Lynchburg, Virginia are progressing ahead of schedule, the company said yesterday. It has completed the demonstration of the fuel kernel sintering process and plans to bring two additional furnaces online to meet projected production demand before restart activities are complete.

Russian State Expert Examination Board (Glavgosexpertiza) has approved plans to build the infrastructure needed to support the floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) Akademik Lomonosov in the city of Pevek, which is in Russia's Chukotka region. The plant, which comprises two 35-megawatt KLT-40C reactors, started commercial operation in December last year.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is to collaborate with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to evaluate the development of a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors at TVA's Clinch River site. TVA has an early site permit from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two or more small modular reactors at the site but has not yet taken a decision to build.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is launching a three-year Coordinated Research Project focused on the economics of small modular reactors (SMRs). The project will provide Member States with an economic appraisal framework for the development and deployment of such reactors.

The reactor pressure vessel, steam generator and hot gas duct of the second reactor at China's demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plant (HTR-PM) have been successfully paired and connected, China National Nuclear Corporation announced today.

Turkey's state-owned EUAS International ICC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Rolls-Royce to evaluate the technical, economical and legal applicability of small modular reactors. In addition, they will consider the possibility of joint production of such reactors.

Swedish utility Vattenfall is participating in a study on the deployment of small modular reactors in Estonia. In January, Estonia's Fermi Energia signed Memoranda of Understanding with Finnish power company Fortum and Belgian engineering firm Tractebel to cooperate on the study.

California-based Oklo Inc has submitted a combined licence application for its Aurora "powerhouse" to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This is the first COLA to be submitted using a new application structure for advanced fission technologies and the first privately funded application for a commercial advanced reactor.

BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc has been awarded a contract from the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to manufacture TRISO nuclear fuel to support the continued development of the Transformational Challenge Reactor . The TCR project aims to build an additively manufactured microreactor, with a demonstration unit planned to be operational by 2023.