The Volgodonsk branch of Russia's AEM Technology JSC has carried out hydraulic testing of the reactor vessel for the first unit of the Kursk II nuclear power plant, which will be the first to use the VVER-TOI (typical optimised, with enhanced information) reactor design.

Shareholders in Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj have signed an additional shareholder loan commitment for EUR400 million (USD490 million). With the new shareholder loan commitment, TVO said it prepares to maintain a sufficient liquidity buffer and equity ratio in order to complete the Olkiluoto 3 EPR project.

The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office encourages project developers to engage early in order to "shape transactions so that they ultimately become bankable", and to feel reassured that engagement with the LPO is a "life-of-the-loan partnership", Douglas Schultz, director of Loan Guarantee Origination for the LPO, told delegates at the New Nuclear Capital 2020 virtual conference last week.

Georgia Power has lifted the shield building roof of Vogtle unit 4 into place, meaning there is now one last major crane lift remaining for the project to build two AP1000 units at the Waynesboro site. It has also completed the pre-operational condenser vacuum test of Vogtle unit 3's turbine system.

The UK government has announced it will begin talks with EDF to enable investment in the planned Sizewell C nuclear power plant project. Today's announcement was part of the Energy White Paper that outlines "historic plans" to clean up the country's energy system and "keep bills affordable" as it transitions to net zero, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.

The UK government has identified nuclear power as a way to help the country achieve the four-fold increase in clean electricity generation needed to achieve its net zero target. Its long-awaited Energy White Paper published today notes that renewables now account for over one-third of electricity generation, up from 7% in 2010, but "building on this foundation" the country will "need to go further".

Belgian engineering firm Tractebel today unveiled its vision for small modular reactors, in which it notes that Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Poland, the UK and the USA, among other countries, have "expressed a clear willingness to shape the future". Its White Paper, The rise of nuclear technology 2.0, is the result of three years of "deep-diving the promises" of this advanced nuclear technology, and investing thousands of engineering hours in technical due diligence and market studies.

The tender for the construction of a new unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic has been postponed from the end of this year to 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced yesterday, following a meeting by the Standing Committee for the Construction of New Nuclear Resources. Four possible options for the parameters of the tender are being considered, which will be addressed by the heads of parliamentary parties by the end of January, when the final decision on the preferred option will be made.

Georgia Power has taken delivery of nuclear fuel for Vogtle unit 3. Construction of the AP1000 - one of two being built at the site near Waynesboro - is now about 96% complete. Fuel loading is expected in April, the company said.

The steam collectors for unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant under construction in Bangladesh have been dispatched by the Volgodonsk branch of Russian Rosatom’s engineering subsidiary AEM Technology. The Rooppur plant will consist of two VVER-1200 reactors.

Barakah unit 1 has reached 100% power and is now generating 1400 MW of electricity, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation has announced today. The unit, which is operated by Nawah Energy Company, is now the single largest power generator in the UAE and is due to begin commercial operations early next year.

EPZ, operator of the Borssele nuclear power plant, has called for an extension to its operation beyond 2033 and/or the construction of two new large reactors at the site in order to help the Netherlands meet its energy and climate goals. The company's director, Carlo Wolters, presented EPZ's vision yesterday at a parliamentary debate on the role of nuclear power in the Dutch energy system.