Javascript is required for this site.
Working Groups are forums through which the enterprises of the global nuclear industry share best practice, conduct analysis, and develop consolidated positions on economic, safety and environmental issues.
READ MORE >
A career development programme preparing nuclear professionals for future challenges. Japan, June-July 2021
World Nuclear Association staff participate in a number of external conferences.
View the upcoming events that the Association is supporting.
World Nuclear Association
Published: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 14:35:54 GMT
Fuel loading began today at unit 1 of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has announced. At 11:45am local time, the first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor and a total of 163 assemblies will be loaded before the end of the month.
Published: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 13:34:49 GMT
The restarts of three advanced gas-cooled reactor units at EDF's Dungeness B and Hunterston B nuclear power plants in the UK have been postponed.
Published: Fri, 07 Aug 2020 12:04:14 GMT
The French nuclear safety authority, Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, has published the report of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Pre-Operational Safety Review Team mission conducted last year at the Flamanville 3 EPR. The mission team identified eight good practices and made six recommendations and 15 suggestions.
Published: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:18:21 GMT
The Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) has issued a permit for the loading of fresh fuel into unit one of the nuclear power plant under construction near Ostrovets in the Grodno region. It consists of two VVER-1200 reactors that are scheduled for commissioning this year and next.
Published: Thu, 06 Aug 2020 11:57:47 GMT
USA-based Jacobs Engineering Group has been selected by Moltex Energy to support its development of the Stable Salt Reactor (SSR), a 300 MWe small modular reactor design. Jacobs will build a bespoke experimental facility for thermal transfer testing at its Birchwood Park research and development facility near Warrington, UK.
Published: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 11:47:25 GMT
Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation of the USA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The five-year agreement outlines goals for development of technologies that enhance the ability of the USNC Micro Modular Reactor to produce and deliver carbon-free power, heat and hydrogen.
Published: Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:42:41 GMT
The University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield will support the delivery of independent evidence-based research to underpin the development of a UK Geological Disposal Facility following a GBP2.5 million (USD3.3 million) grant secured from Radioactive Waste Management (RWM).
Published: Wed, 05 Aug 2020 12:25:28 GMT
The first T-pylon on National Grid's Hinkley Connection is scheduled to be constructed at the end of July 2021. It will be one of 116 T-pylons along the 57km route, which will connect low-carbon energy from EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant to six million UK homes and businesses. It will also allow for more capacity on the network for renewable energy from the South West peninsular.
Published: Wed, 05 Aug 2020 11:06:32 GMT
Romania has launched a tender for a new feasibility study to complete units 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant for which it is prepared to pay up to RON1 million (USD245,000). There is also the option of a single unit being put up for auction, according to a report by Economica.Net.
Published: Tue, 04 Aug 2020 13:21:29 GMT
Kazakhstan's JSC National Atomic Company Kazatomprom plans to return staffing levels at its uranium mines to normal by around the end of this month. The number of employees at the mine sites was reduced between April and July in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published: Tue, 04 Aug 2020 15:16:20 GMT
Ukraine's Ministry of Energy has restored Energoatom’s ability to influence its own financial planning and the process of appointing a company president, in a newly approved corporate charter that has been submitted for state registration. The state-run nuclear power plant operator had started legal action to force the move before its dialogue with the ministry was resumed.
Published: Tue, 04 Aug 2020 14:41:40 GMT
Virginia's 38-year-old moratorium on uranium mining will continue following a district court ruling in a case challenging its constitutionality. Virginia Uranium Inc first brought the state suit in 2015 in its effort to mine what it claims is the largest known uranium deposit in the USA.
Published: Mon, 03 Aug 2020 14:56:41 GMT
It is understandable that the nuclear power industry feels it has been left "in limbo" by the European Commission's taxonomy on sustainable finance, even though its low-carbon credentials are clear, an adviser to the Technical Expert Group that developed the guidance said last week. Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, participated in the 28 July webinar-based discussion of a newly published Policy Brief by the OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency, Unlocking financing for nuclear energy infrastructure in the COVID-19 economic recovery.
Published: Fri, 31 Jul 2020 14:40:21 GMT
Nawah Energy Company has started up unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear power plant, located in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi. Nawah is the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation. The APR1400 attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time early yesterday morning and is expected to enter commercial operation later this year.
Published: Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:10:28 GMT
Exports of nuclear energy equipment and technology to meet the needs projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could be worth USD1.3-1.9 trillion to the USA over the period to 2050, a new report by consulting firm UxC has concluded.
Published: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 11:39:01 GMT
Unit 5 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province has attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time. The 1080 MWe domestically-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor is expected to be connected to the grid later this year, after which it will enter commercial operation.
Published: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 15:34:54 GMT
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover successfully launched today from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rover, which will be powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator developed at the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, will land on Mars to begin exploration in February 2021.
Published: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 14:39:48 GMT
EDF has said the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a slowdown in construction and maintenance of its nuclear power plant fleet in both France and the UK. It has warned of further delays to the schedules for completing both the Flamanville and Hinkley Point C projects.
Published: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 14:17:59 GMT
Cameco and Orano Canada have announced plans to restart operations at the Cigar Lake uranium mine and the McClean Lake mill. Cameco will restart mine operations at the beginning of September, and Orano expects to be processing uranium by the middle of the month.
Published: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 14:51:30 GMT
A ceremony was held yesterday within the ITER Assembly Hall to mark the official start of the assembly of the tokamak fusion device of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor at Cadarache in south-eastern France. Assembly of the tokamak is expected to take five years to complete.
Published: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:30:54 GMT
The sheer size of nuclear projects might be a barrier in some markets where private investors are looking for short‑term paybacks. However, during a period of economic recovery, large‑scale and long‑term energy infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power plants, can galvanise the social cohesion and economic spill‑overs required to re-launch general economic activity.
Published: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:06:45 GMT
Only governments can properly value the benefits of nuclear power and their support is therefore necessary to secure financing for new-build projects, George Borovas, partner and head of nuclear at law firm Shearman & Sterling, said today. Borovas was speaking during an OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency webinar on its newly published Policy Brief, Unlocking financing for nuclear energy infrastructure in the COVID-19 economic recovery.
Published: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:51:13 GMT
The UK has launched a GBP3.9 million (USD5.0 million) competition to find innovative ways to sort and segregate radioactive waste at some of its oldest nuclear sites. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - including Sellafield Ltd and Magnox Ltd - has teamed up with Innovate UK to call on companies to "come up with new ideas and innovative approaches to the challenge".
Published: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:49:40 GMT
Denison Mines has resumed in situ leach field testing activities at the high-grade Phoenix deposit at Wheeler River in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. All operating procedures have been adapted to incorporate physical distancing and enhanced hygiene protocols to comply with COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
Published: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 14:12:09 GMT
Replication is the key to reducing the cost of nuclear new-build projects and attracting investment in firm, low-carbon power and heat, Julia Pyke, director of Sizewell C financing & economic regulation at EDF Energy, said last week. The following is an abridged version of her presentation to participants in an OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency webinar on the Paris-based agency’s newly published Policy Brief, Unlocking financing for nuclear energy infrastructure in the COVID-19 economic recovery.
Published: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:26:23 GMT
Work has started in Kyrgyzstan to overcome the legacy of uranium mining in Central Asia with a ground-breaking ceremony in Shekaftar, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced today. The Shekaftar mining complex includes three closed mines and eight mining-waste disposal areas that contain about 700,000 cubic metres of waste from mining operations.
Published: Mon, 27 Jul 2020 14:44:09 GMT
Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, the managing and operating contractor for the US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, has issued a request for information on a fission surface power system that can be operated on the Moon.
Published: Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:37:27 GMT
The US Senate has passed the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) after it was included as an amendment to an act authorising defence appropriations and policies for fiscal 2021. NELA aims to re-establish US leadership in nuclear energy, with a focus on the demonstration of advanced reactors.
Published: Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:37:42 GMT
The outer safety dome has been installed on the containment building of unit 6 at the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province. The unit is the second of two demonstration Hualong One reactors under construction at the site.
Published: Mon, 27 Jul 2020 10:56:23 GMT
Ukraine's nuclear power plant operator will thrive in a free market and be able to export surplus electricity if the government removes impediments to its success, Herman Halushchenko, Energoatom's vice president of development, said in an interview with Energy Club last week. Asked where he sees the company in five years, he said: "There is good phrase for this - 'We are doomed to succeed'. We must give this unique company the opportunity to become truly successful."
Tel: +44 (0)20 7451 1521
events@world-nuclear.org