The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has taken delivery of fuel assemblies for unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant under construction in western Abu Dhabi. The fuel assemblies are being stored until the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation approves the operating licence for units 1 and 2.

The dome has been installed on the containment building of unit 5 at the Fuqing nuclear power plant. The unit - the first of two demonstration Hualong One units being built at the site in China's Fujian province - is expected to start up in 2019.

Westinghouse's core business remains strong and the company intends to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy stronger, better and more competitive, interim president and CEO José Gutíerrez said yesterday.

The first of 18 toroidal field coils has been made in Europe. Gigantic superconducting magnets, they will generate the magnetic cage to contain the Iter fusion reactor's plasma. 

China is to supply Argentina with two nuclear power reactors - one a Candu pressurised heavy water reactor, the other a Hualong One pressurised water reactor. The contract was among 19 agreements signed yesterday in Beijing during a meeting of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Argentinean president Mauricio Macri.

The UK's National Grid said today it has "paused" plans for grid infrastructure work needed for the Moorside nuclear power plant whilst developer NuGeneration conducts a strategic review of the project. National Grid unveiled proposals last October for a £2.8 billion ($3.4 billion) project to connect the planned plant in West Cumbria to the country's electricity network, ahead of ten weeks of consultation it completed in early January.

The first vacuum vessel sector sub-assembly tool for the Iter fusion reactor has passed factory acceptance tests in South Korea. The tool is by far the largest custom-designed tool for the reactor, currently under construction at Cadarache in southern France.

Georgia Power's interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse has been extended until 3 June, after which Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power will take over project management for the Vogtle AP1000 nuclear power plant construction project under a new service agreement.

The VC Summer nuclear construction project is now over 64% complete, South Carolina Electricity & Gas (SCG&E) said in its latest progress report to the state's Public Service Commission. The substantial completion dates for the two AP1000 units are currently unchanged from previous timelines but are to be re-evaluated in light of Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy filing.

Initial construction has been completed at the UAE's first power reactor, Barakah 1. The operating company, Nawah Energy Company, must gain approval from national regulators before the final stage of loading fuel and bringing it into service.

Testing of the hermetic enclosure system of the reactor containment building has started at unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia, the Rosatom subsidiary managing the project announced today. The work is one of the main stages of pre-commissioning a new reactor unit.

The owners of the VC Summer and Vogtle nuclear new-build projects have announced extensions to interim assessment agreements with Westinghouse. The extensions will allow work to continue at the AP1000 construction site at Summer until 26 June and Vogtle until 12 May.