A new simulator is nearing completion at unit 2 of the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in Sweden, operator OKG said today. The simulator is part of a safety modernization of the unit started in mid-2013.

China's State Council has given final approval for construction of units 5 and 6 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in Fujian province. They will be demonstration units for the domestically-developed Hualong One reactor design.

Rosenergoatom has reportedly postponed construction of the BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant "indefinitely" on the need to improve fuel for the reactor and amid speculation about the cost-effectiveness of the project.

Fabrication of the central solenoid of the Iter fusion project has been started by the USA's General Atomics. The solenoid - due for delivery in 2019 - will be one of the largest superconducting electromagnets ever built.

Government and company officials yesterday launched construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant. The Russian-designed Akkuyu plant in Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast, is the first of three nuclear power plants the country plans to build to help boost its economy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuel imports.

Areva has signed two agreements with Indian companies in preparation for the project to construct six EPR units at Jaitapur in Maharashtra state. The agreements were signed during a visit to Paris by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

Porvair Filtration Group has announced its role in the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor currently being developed at Tsinghua University in China. The British company said the technology has the potential to create affordable and reliable energy in some of the world's poorest and most remote countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has approved parliament's ratification of an intergovernmental agreement with Japan to build a nuclear power plant at Sinop, according to a statement on his website yesterday.

The reactor vessel of Shin Hanul unit 2 has been installed within the reactor building, marking a major step in the construction of the second Korean-designed Advanced Pressurised Reactor-1400 (APR-1400) being built at the site.

Westinghouse Electric Company and the Bulgarian government are in talks to set a structure and timeline for their agreement to build a seventh reactor at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Turkey's parliament has ratified an intergovernmental agreement with Japan to construct a nuclear power plant at Sinop. The two countries signed the so-called host government agreement in October 2013.

NuScale Power has completed fabrication and assembly of a full-scale upper module mock-up of its NuScale small modular reactor.