Slovenské Elektrárne has strengthened operational safety at unit 3 of Slovakia's Mochovce nuclear power plant ahead of commercial operation, an expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded. The team said the plant management had made significant progress in addressing the findings of a previous IAEA review in 2019.

Nuclear is already set to become the largest source of energy in the Czech Republic, but accelerating new build and broadening its use to provide more heat would help hasten the phaseout of coal, according to the International Energy Agency. Phasing out coal is "a key challenge" for the Czech Republic, the IEA said in a policy review published today. Despite a 36% decrease since 2009, coal still accounts for half of total domestic energy production and it is not expected to be phased out completely until 2038, it said.

The private sector must be prepared to provide the funds needed to take new and innovative reactor technologies from the first deployment stage to wide-scale commercial operation, Jigar Shah, director of the Loans Program Office at the US Department of Energy, said yesterday during World Nuclear Association's Annual Symposium. He said the LPO is developing the business models needed to deploy new nuclear.

Polish chemical producer Ciech will consider nuclear technologies to replace coal burnt for power and process heat in its plants. Ciech has signed a Letter of Intent to cooperate with Synthos Green Energy, which is already working with GE-Hitachi and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation.

Russia's MBIR multipurpose sodium-cooled fast neutron research reactor is now in the installation phase, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov announced yesterday. Likhachov's announcement was made during a working trip to the city of Dimitrovgrad in the Ulyanovsk region to monitor the construction of the reactor, which began at the site of the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in September 2015.

Completion of unit 4 of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant in Ukraine will be accelerated by the use of major plant components in storage since the construction of new reactors at VC Summer in the USA was cancelled. The head of Energoatom toured Westinghouse warehouses to inspect the condition of the AP1000 components.

Four small modular reactors will power the huge Baimskaya copper and gold mining development in the Russian Arctic, according to an agreement signed by Rosatom subsidiary Atomflot. The company's director general, Mustafa Kashka, said the deal was significant for the whole global market for small reactors.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has received orders from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd for the turbine islands for six nuclear power units - four at Gorakhpur and two at Kaiga. BHEL said the INR108 billion (USD1.5 billion) order for turbine island EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) is its "largest ever".

Energoatom of Ukraine will explore the possible deployment of NuScale small modular reactors to replace fossil fuel plants, according to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the companies. It is the latest in a series of agreements on energy signed during the visit of a Ukrainian delegation to the USA.

Steam generators for the second reactor of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant have been dispatched from the Atommash plant in the Volgodonsk area of Russia. Production of heavy components for nuclear plants has reached a stable 'production rhythm', the head of the plant's owner, AEM Technologies, said.

Polish chemicals group Synthos and energy group ZE PAK have signed an investment agreement to explore the construction of four to six BWRX-300 small modular reactors at the site of ZE PAK's Pątnów coal-fired power plant in central Poland. Synthos, which has exclusive rights in the country for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's small nuclear reactors, will participate in the project as both an investor and the technology provider.

Ukraine and the USA have agreed to "deepen and intensify" their strategic cooperation in energy. Nuclear power leads a suite of agreements with a project to complete Khmelnitsky unit 4, followed up with four new AP1000 units at a total value of USD30 billion.