Belarusia's energy ministry has rejected media reports that claim changes in the value of the Russian rouble against the euro have negatively impacted its project with Russia to build a nuclear power plant at Ostrovets.

The second steam generator for the second AP1000 unit under construction at Sanmen in China's Zhejiang province has been delivered to the construction site ahead of installation.

Areva Inc has asked the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend work on the design certification of the US EPR until further notice, prompting Unistar Nuclear Energy to request the suspension of the review of its construction and operation licence application for Calvert Cliffs 3.

The UK is one of the two key markets for Areva, together with China, as it is "where the group sees growth", the French engineering company's UK chief executive officer Robert Davies told World Nuclear News in an interview yesterday.

At least two South Korean-designed SMART reactors could be built in Saudi Arabia following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries yesterday. Korea and Saudi are to jointly promote the reactor in the global market.

Rusatom Overseas is aiming to sell desalination facilities integrated with large capacity nuclear power plants to Russia's export markets.

The Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies has completed a "key stage" in the manufacture of a steam generator for unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant, packing the 11,000 stainless steel heat exchange pipes.

The US nuclear regulator has begun an inspection at the construction site of VC Summer unit 2 to assess the cause and impact of "inadvertent damage" to the unit's containment vessel.

Russian architect-engineer AtomEnergoProekt has started work to install the reactor pressure vessel of the second unit of the Novovoronezh II nuclear power plant.

Hungary and Russia are "already in the implementation phase" of their project to build two new Russian-designed units at Paks, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant. The article was published on the Hungarian government's website today, two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official visit to the country.

The second unit of the Atucha nuclear power plant in Argentina today reached 100% of its rated power, completing an increase in the share of nuclear power in the country's electricity mix from 7% to 10%.

The head of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant construction project in western Russia has said commissioning of all four of the planned units may be delayed by a year.