Fuel loading under way at China’s HTR-PM

The loading of spherical fuel elements has begun at the demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plant (HTR-PM) at Shidaowan, in China’s Shandong province. The milestone came one day after the issuance of an operating licence for the twin-unit plant, which is scheduled to start operations later this year. China’s nuclear regulator, the National Nuclear Safety Administration, …

Belgian nuclear phase out an ‘irreversible loss’, PM told

An open letter to the prime minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, has called for the country’s anti-nuclear policies to be re-evaluated and for Belgium’s nuclear facilities and skills to be positively applied in an effort to avert climate change. Writing in the major newspaper La Libre, a group of young engineers called Horizon 238 appealed …

The UK will miss climate targets without nuclear energy, warns MP

Retiring nuclear power stations in Britain would be ‘an environmental and economic catastrophe of unprecedented scale,’ according to a Labour MP. Charlotte Nichols, MP for Warrington North, urged the government to intervene as the retirement of the nuclear fleet jeopardises climate objectives. The comments follow last week’s report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate …

Partnership set up for IMSR fuel supply

Westinghouse, the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and Terrestrial Energy have announced a partnership in the UK to advance the industrial scale up and commercial supply of enriched uranium fuel for use in Terrestrial’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). An agreement between the three defines the process for delivering IMSR fuel for commercial use, concurrent …

UK sees role for nuclear in hydrogen economy

The UK government says nuclear will play a significant role in developing a thriving low-carbon hydrogen sector to meet the country’s ambition for 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. Releasing its Hydrogen Strategy today, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said a hydrogen economy could support over 9000 UK jobs and …

Turbine tests completed at China’s HTR-PM

Testing of the steam turbine using non-nuclear steam has been completed at the demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plant (HTR-PM) at Shidaowan, in China’s Shandong province. The twin-unit HTR-PM is scheduled to start operations later this year. Non-nuclear steam flushing is an important test for nuclear power projects to check the operating quality of steam turbine …

Preparations begin for next Turkish unit

Preparations have begun for the construction of the fourth unit at Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear has confirmed, with excavations for the reactor building, turbine hall, auxiliary reactor building and other main facilities now under way. Separately, Netherlands-based geotechnical survey company Fugro has completed a complex 6-month offshore site characterisation project on the …

Which Industries Stand to Gain From the $1.2T Infrastructure Bill—and Which Stand to Lose

The Senate on Tuesday approved a $1.2 trillion proposal to improve the nation’s aging infrastructure, offering hope of a historic boost to several industries that stand to benefit from increased funding and regulations. While the bill must still clear the House, where it faces a rocky path over the next few weeks, the Senate outcome marks a …