nuclear reactor

The UK Government has asked nuclear regulators to assess a Chinese-designed reactor for a proposed plant in Britain. Industry and Energy Minister Jesse Norman made the announcement yesterday for a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of the UK HPR1000 reactor. China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and France’s EDF submitted an application through their joint venture […]

The European Commission has approved the French Government’s plans to provide nuclear group Areva with €4.5 billion (£3.9bn) as part of its restructuring plan. The payment of the state aid is subject to conditions, in particular a “positive conclusion” of the ongoing tests by the French Nuclear Safety Agency concerning the nuclear reactor vessel of […]

A reactor at a nuclear power plant in Taiwan has reportedly been forced to shut down after a fire broke out yesterday. Reports claim the fire at the 951MW Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was caused by a short-circuited transformer. It was said to have been put out by the plant’s own firefighters […]

The US is providing $13 million (£8m) for nuclear energy research and development projects that support advanced reactor technologies. Five companies will team up with universities and research institutions to address technical challenges to the design, construction and operation of next-generation nuclear reactors. It is part of the Department of Energy’s programme, launched last year, […]

Four nuclear reactors in the UK that were shut down may not be back online until the end of the year, EDF Energy has confirmed. The company’s Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power stations were taken offline last month to conduct inspections of their boilers after a fault was found. EDF Energy said it has […]

Bulgaria has signed an agreement with Westinghouse Electric Company for the expansion of a nuclear power plant in the country. US-based Westinghouse, part of Japan’s Toshiba group, said it will provide all of the plant equipment, design, engineering and fuel for the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. It will help build a new 1,000 reactor estimated […]

A Chinese bank has reportedly agreed to finance the construction of two new nuclear reactors in Romania. A Romanian official told reporters the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said it would fund the reactors and is “considering opening a subsidiary” in Romania. Liviu Dragnea, Romania’s Deputy Prime Minister has been quoted as saying: “The […]

The owner of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has secured the Japanese Government’s approval to partly open a nuclear power plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (Tepco) 10-year business strategy includes plans to restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant as early as July. The last of Japan’s nuclear reactors was shut down for maintenance […]

A nuclear plant in Switzerland is to shut down as the nation seeks to get rid of nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. State-owned energy firm BKW said the Mühleberg nuclear facility, located around 17 kilometres from the Swiss capital Bern, will go offline in 2019. The Swiss Government approved a […]

The Belgian nuclear research centre SCK-CEN has awarded a €24 million (£20.4 million) contract to three companies to design part of a new nuclear research reactor. It’s set to be the ‘first’ prototype reactor in the world to be driven by a particle accelerator when it becomes fully operational in 2024-25. The ‘Multi-purpose Hybrid Research […]