Lloyd's Register of the UK announced today it has signed a framework agreement with the Nuclear Power Institute of China to support the design and development of a floating nuclear power plant utilizing a small modular reactor (SMR).

A fundamental restructuring of the whole energy system is needed if the UK is to meet the so-called energy 'trilemma' of affordability, security and decarbonization, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering. It is essential that nuclear remains part of that system, it says.

Yesterday's announcement that China and the UK have completed a financial and commercial agreement that will see a final investment decision on EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C project by the end of the year has been widely welcomed.

Westinghouse Electric Company wants to work with the UK on the deployment of small modular reactor (SMR) technology. Westinghouse, part of the Toshiba group, said yesterday it had presented a "proposal to partner" in phase two of a study being carried out by the UK government into the nation's potential use of SMRs.

China has agreed to take a one-third stake in the project to build a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in the UK and to take shares in two further plants. A final investment decision for the Hinkley project by EDF Energy is expected by the end of the year.

New imaging technology that can see the radiation fields emitted in an operating nuclear reactor has been developed by researchers in the UK. Inspired by cats' eyes, the camera technology could provide real-time monitoring of reactor cores.

The findings of a four-year study on the corrosion behaviours of magnesium and uranium may help to significantly reduce the timescale and costs of cleaning up the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo at Sellafield, one of the UK's most hazardous buildings.

The pricing methodology for waste transfer contracts between the UK government and operators of new nuclear power plants meets European state aid rules, the European Commission has concluded.

Amec Foster Wheeler has been selected to lead a project to set up a new high-temperature facility in the UK for testing materials used in current and future nuclear reactors. It will be funded by a government research grant.

The final used fuel element has been removed from unit 2 of the Oldbury nuclear power plant in the UK, the last of more than 52,000 from the two Magnox reactors there.

NuScale aims to deploy its small modular reactor technology in the UK with the first of its 50 MWe units in operation by the mid-2020s. The company is looking for partners to make this happen.

China and the UK will work together to co-fund a £50 million ($78 million) nuclear research centre, to be headquartered in the UK. Chinese vice premier Ma Kai and British chancellor George Osborne announced the plan on 21 September during the 7th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue summit in Beijing.