California Signs Two Bills to Reshape Advanced Nuclear Fission and Fusion Energy Strategy

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed two bills aimed at comprehensively advancing the state's nuclear energy development by reassessing advanced nuclear fission technology and establishing a strategic plan for nuclear fusion. In the field of nuclear fission, Assembly Bill 2647 (A.B. 2647) requires the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (CEC) to conduct a formal assessment of advanced nuclear energy technologies by January 1, 2028. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, directs the CEC to comprehensively consider factors such as cost, grid reliability, fuel cycle, and public health in determining whether new nuclear power plants can help California achieve its 2045 zero-carbon electricity goal. Calderon stated that given current grid demands, California needs to reassess the role of nuclear energy in ensuring a stable and clean electricity supply based on modern technology.

2026-10-04

Korea Holds Briefing Session on Bidding for Auxiliary Equipment for Czech Dukovany Nuclear Power Project

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) officially held the briefing session on bidding for auxiliary equipment for the Czech Dukovany Nuclear Power Project on September 30 at the Radiation Health Institute in Seoul. As the Czech Dukovany new Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) project has fully transitioned from the preliminary supplier qualification and registration stage to the substantive bidding and equipment procurement stage, this briefing session was aimed at providing comprehensive guidance and support for Korean domestic equipment manufacturers to participate in the bidding. The meeting attracted approximately 130 plant auxiliary equipment (...

2026-10-04

Hanul Unit 6 in South Korea commences its 15th planned preventive overhaul

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)'s Hanul Nuclear Power Site announced that its Hanul Unit 6 was officially disconnected from the grid at 10:00 a.m. on September 30, fully launching its 15th planned preventive overhaul lasting approximately 72 days. Hanul Unit 6 is a 1,000-megawatt-class pressurized water reactor (PWR) with a rated electrical power of 1,000 megawatts. During this planned maintenance window, the operations and maintenance team will carry out routine nuclear fuel assembly refueling operations as scheduled, and conduct comprehensive preventive maintenance and performance testing on the reactor primary coolant system, engineered safety features, and conventional island critical...

2026-10-04

Second Batch of Nuclear Fuel for Bangladesh's Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Arrives at Shahjalal International Airport

Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant construction recently reached a key milestone, as a Russian cargo plane carrying a new batch of enriched uranium nuclear fuel landed smoothly late Friday night at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Officials confirmed that the nuclear fuel, under tight security escort, has departed for transport to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) project site in the Pabna region. M. Rashiduzzaman Millat, State Minister of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism of Bangladesh...

2026-10-04

US-based Valar Atomics Plans to Deploy 456 Gas-Cooled Nuclear Reactors in Utah: Building a Dedicated 9.6 GW Power Supply System for a Supercomputing Data Center

US energy startup Valar Atomics has officially submitted a proposal for the construction of an ultra-large-scale industrial park named Project Beehive. The project is planned to be sited on federal and state land near Price, Utah, covering an area of approximately 9,000 acres. The entire project plans to deploy 456 small gas-cooled nuclear reactors in a clustered configuration, with an expected total installed generating capacity reaching an astonishing 9.6 gigawatts (GW). This scale is more than twice Utah's current average grid-wide generation load of 4 GW and approaches its summer peak demand of nearly 10 GW. This ultra-dense...

2026-10-03

Russia's Kurchatov Institute to Receive 5.7 Billion Rubles in Fiscal Budget Support: Focusing on Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion and Advanced Plasma Technology R&D

The National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" will receive approximately 5.7 billion Rubles in dedicated funding support from the Russian federal budget during the period from 2027 to 2029. This fiscal allocation will be specifically used to advance key technology breakthroughs in Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, as well as the R&D and experimental validation of innovative Plasma Technologies. The above funding plan is explicitly stated in the draft explanatory document of the 2027–2029 federal budget bill published in the electronic database of the Russian State Duma...

2026-10-03

Experts from 18 Countries Discuss Research Planning for Russia's MBIR Fast Reactor International Research Center: Focusing on Closed Fuel Cycle and Mega-Science Engineering Synergy

At the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (INP AS RUz), the third meeting of the Advisory Council of the International Research Center (IRC MBIR), established on the basis of the Multi-purpose Fast Neutron Research Reactor (MBIR), was officially convened. The meeting attracted more than 150...

2026-10-03

CNNC Huaxing's Self-Developed "Island-Building Machine" Completes First Jacking at Xuwei Project

Recently, the containment construction integrated platform (referred to as the "Island-Building Machine") for Unit 1 of the Jiangsu Xuwei Nuclear Heating and Power Plant, constructed and independently developed by CNNC Huaxing, successfully completed its first jacking, officially transitioning from installation and commissioning to the autonomous climbing phase. The platform integrates self-climbing, enclosed operations, and intelligent monitoring, and innovatively adopts a lightweight modular design. It incorporates equipment such as the platform system, wall-attached supports, hydraulic climbing, safety monitoring, and folding-boom cranes, effectively reducing R&D costs and improving assembly and disassembly efficiency. The Island-Building Machine has three core functions: first, the hydraulic system drives synchronous jacking of machine positions, eliminating dependence on tower cranes for repeated lifting of formwork hanging frames; second, the top platform also serves as a material yard, with folding-boom cranes...

2026-10-03

Rosatom Proposes New VVER-1000 Nuclear Power Unit to Armenia

Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, recently stated in Yerevan that the company has submitted specific proposals to the Armenian government for the construction of a gigawatt-class VVER-1000 nuclear power unit. The proposal is based on an assessment of Armenia's electricity demand through 2040 and plans to adopt Russia's mature pressurized water reactor technology, the VVER-1000, which features Generation 3+ safety systems and competitive electricity pricing advantages, and has already been built and commissioned in Russia, India, Iran, and other countries. The Russian side calls this option the optimal choice for the international market and is willing to develop the project into a comprehensive cooperation project attracting international suppliers. Previously, Likhachev held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and...

2026-10-03

Amazon Signs Long-Term Power Purchase Agreement to Support $3 Billion Investment: Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Plans 190 MW Power Uprate and License Renewal Application

Constellation Energy and tech giant Amazon officially announced on September 30 the signing of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The agreement will fully support a major infrastructure upgrade investment exceeding $3 billion at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland, with the core plan including a total 190 MW power uprate for two operating Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) units. This 20-year PPA locks in a 690 MW power supply allocation, of which...

2026-10-03

US and South Korea Advance $120 Billion Nuclear Power Investment Plan: First Batch of 8 Large Units' Sites Locked in Ohio and Three Other States

The joint US-South Korea strategic investment nuclear power project in the United States has achieved a key breakthrough. According to the latest disclosed information, the site selection for 8 large nuclear power units planned to be built on US soil has begun to take shape, with the project to be located in Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky. This is the first official disclosure of the proposed states since the announcement of this hundred-billion-dollar-scale nuclear energy investment plan. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, during a recent US-South Korea strategic investment announcement event, systematically presented this massive nuclear power engineering blueprint to the public. Lutnick...

2026-10-02

Indonesia Plans to Finalize the Site of Its First Nuclear Power Plant by 2027 at the Latest: Technologies from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Russia Shortlisted for Cooperation Consideration

Elen Setiadi, Deputy Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Coordination at Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, stated on September 30 in Jakarta that the Indonesian government is comprehensively advancing the construction project of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and plans to officially finalize the construction site in 2026, or by 2027 at the latest. Indonesia aims to fully integrate advanced nuclear power into its national medium- and long-term energy supply strategy, using stable and abundant baseload electricity to support sustained domestic economic growth and industrialization transformation. At the World Resources Institute Indonesia (W...

2026-10-02

Deployable Energy 1MW Microreactor UNB Achieves Initial Criticality: Scheduled to Enter INL DOME Test Bed in 2027 for Full-Power Testing

Houston-based nuclear energy startup Deployable Energy recently announced that its independently developed Microreactor, the Unity Nuclear Battery (UNB), has successfully completed its Initial Criticality Test. According to the established deployment plan, the system will officially arrive at the Demonstration and Operation of Microreactor Experiments (DOME), the dedicated microreactor test bed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in 2027 to conduct full-power comprehensive performance testing. Although branded as a Nuclear...

2026-10-02

South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission Holds High-Level Talks with Vietnam: Deepening Nuclear Safety Regulatory Cooperation to Support Restart of Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Project

The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) of South Korea held talks with a high-level Vietnamese delegation on October 1, 2026, in the large conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Choi Wonho, Chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission of South Korea, Vu Hai Quan, Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of Vietnam, and Nguyen Hoang Linh, Director General of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (VARANS), jointly attended the meeting, focusing on the systematic...

2026-10-01

Netherlands to Acquire 70% Stake in Borssele Nuclear Power Plant

The Dutch government has reached an agreement to acquire a 70% stake in EPZ, the operator of the Borssele NPP. These shares will be purchased from the Province of Zeeland and its subordinate municipalities. The acquisition aims to ensure the long-term continued operation of the existing nuclear power plant. It is understood that the Borssele Nuclear Power Station (Dutch: Kerncentrale Borssele) is the only commercial nuclear power plant still in operation in the Netherlands. It is located near the town of Borssele in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands and is operated by the Dutch utility EPZ. The Borssele Nuclear Power Plant has a net electrical output of 485 megawatts (MWe), uses pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology...

2026-09-30

Bechtel and Westinghouse Consortium Formally Signs EPC Turnkey Contract for Poland's First Nuclear Power Plant, Construction Scheduled to Begin in 2027

A consortium comprising U.S. engineering giant Bechtel and nuclear technology supplier Westinghouse Electric Company has formally signed an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Poland's state-owned nuclear power company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) to advance the construction of Poland's first-ever commercial nuclear power plant. The nuclear project is located in Choczewo on the Baltic Sea coast in the Pomerania province of northern Poland. PEJ officially stated that the site is planned to host 3 Westinghouse AP1000 Generation III+ advanced pressurized water reactor units, with a designed total installed capacity of 3750 megawatts (3750 MWe), and the first unit is expected...

2026-09-30

Argonne National Laboratory Achieves Latest Research Progress in Advanced Reactor Passive Safety, Revealing Flow Characteristics of Reactor Cavity Cooling System Using NSTF Facility

A research team at Argonne National Laboratory, under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has achieved the latest research progress on passive shutdown decay heat removal mechanisms for next-generation advanced nuclear reactors. Under unplanned reactor shutdown or sudden emergency accident conditions, nuclear fuel continues to release decay heat. Ensuring continuous and reliable heat removal under complete power loss and without manual intervention is a core issue in the inherent safety design of Generation IV advanced reactors. The Argonne research team recently focused on the transient thermal-hydraulic response characteristics of key passive heat removal systems under realistic dynamic decay heat curves. This...

2026-09-30

Saskatchewan, Canada Releases Long-Term Nuclear Energy Strategy: Plans to Build 2,600 MW of Nuclear Power by 2050

Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan, Canada, officially announced the province's long-term nuclear energy development plan in Saskatoon on September 29, establishing a strategic goal of building at least 2,600 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power capacity by 2050. Moe emphasized that nuclear energy is not only a zero-carbon clean baseload power source, but also a "nation-building opportunity" that empowers economic growth for generations, will create high-end jobs across the province, attract multinational capital, and ensure long-term electricity stability for households and industry. According to the plan, four core pillars have been established: 1. Build a highly resilient power foundation supporting long-term economic growth: Rely on non-intermittent zero-carbon nuclear energy to address the electricity load gap brought about by society-wide electrification...

2026-09-30

Brookfield Renewable Discloses Strategy for Nuclear Energy Business Segment

At the Brookfield Affiliates Investor Day 2026 held on September 29, Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) highlighted the strategic progress and industrial layout of its nuclear energy business segment. Brookfield management noted that as AI data centers, manufacturing reshoring, and deep electrification across society drive a sharp increase in global electricity demand, power supply has become a key bottleneck constraining economic growth. Nuclear energy, with its high reliability, round-the-clock baseload attributes, and value for national energy security, is entering an unprecedented super expansion cycle not seen in decades. The...

2026-09-30

Russia is conducting high-level technical consultations with Iran on the construction of brand-new nuclear power plants

According to a comprehensive report by Azerbaijan News Network (AzerNews) and several mainstream Iranian media outlets, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, recently disclosed to the media in Yerevan, Armenia that Russia is conducting high-level technical consultations with Iran on the construction of brand-new nuclear power plants, with the cooperation planning scope covering both large commercial reactor types and small modular reactors (SMRs). At the same time, Rosatom's engineering team is conducting comprehensive geological and engineering assessments of multiple candidate new sites in Iran that have the conditions for nuclear power grid connection. Likhachev specifically pointed out that the strategic binding between Moscow and Tehran in the field of civilian nuclear energy...

2026-09-30

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Poised to Approve TVA's First BWRX-300 Reactor

According to reports, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is expected to approve on Tuesday the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) construction of the first 300-megawatt BWRX-300 reactor at the Clinch River site in Tennessee. TVA is considering deploying up to four units, and this license covers only the first unit. This license is a construction permit and does not yet mean the unit can enter commercial operation. It is understood that the BWRX-300 is a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) that uses Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) technology, with a single-unit electrical output...

2026-09-29