Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to A2 from A1 the issuer and senior unsecured ratings of Électricité de France, outlook negative. The rationale for the negative outlook includes "the incremental risks associated with the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project in the UK, should it go ahead," Moody's said yesterday.

William D. Magwood, IV, director general of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), highlighted some of the issues hindering the prospects of nuclear power at a two-day conference that started today at the organisation's headquarters in Paris. These issues include the impact of deregulated electricity markets, the place of natural gas in the context of efforts to curb global emissions of CO2, and the myths surrounding the costs of building a nuclear power plant.

Russia's ZIO-Podolsk has completed assembling the integrated reactor vessel of the second of two 175 MWt reactors for the Arktika icebreaker. The procedure was completed in 19 days, three days fewer than for the same equipment for the first reactor.

As Watts Bar 2 prepares to start up, the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has voted to sell the Bellefonte nuclear power plant site, with its two partially built reactors and other infrastructure, to the highest bidder.

Large infrastructure projects require a range of key features and sufficient risk management to attract financing, but a new nuclear project has to go further still to draw in potential backers, delegates at a recent conference in London heard.

Environmental impacts would not prevent the issuance of a licence to build and operate the proposed Bell Bend nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers have concluded. However, other reviews in the licensing process for the project have been suspended.

Construction of the containment building dome of unit 2 at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates has been completed, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation announced yesterday.

The first reactor coolant pump to be delivered for an AP1000 plant in the USA has arrived at Georgia Power's Vogtle project.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj has today submitted its operating licence application for unit 3 of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The first-of-a-kind EPR plant is scheduled to start up in late 2018.

Areva and EDF's program for testing the mechanical properties of Flamanville 3's reactor pressure vessel has been extended. Previously the tests were to be carried out on samples from two forged parts but will now be conducted on three.

Turkey's Council of Ministers has ordered the acquisition of land enabling construction of a 380 kV transmission line for the planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant. The order is contained in three announcements published in the official state gazette on 10 April.

European electricity association Eurelectric has welcomed the European Commission's recently published Nuclear Illustrative Program (PINC), but expressed regrets at its failure to address the issue of premature reactor closures due to market conditions. European nuclear industry association Foratom also called on the PINC to address the impact of market conditions on nuclear investments.