Rolls-Royce and Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation have signed a partnership agreement to provide advanced Instrumentation and Control system testing services to the nuclear energy market. 

Belgium will need more capacity than previously forecast to cope with its planned nuclear exit and is not yet ready for any scenario, a new report by Belgian grid operator Elia has found. Meanwhile, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency has completed a review on the long-term operation of two of the country's nuclear power plants.

Unit 2 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has been connected to the electricity grid, becoming the second EPR reactor to reach the commissioning milestone after Taishan 1. Unit 2 is expected to enter commercial operation later this year.

GE Steam Power is to continue providing full maintenance services on two turbine islands at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania under a newly announced USD120 million multi-year agreement with Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica. Meanwhile, work has begun at GE's Belfort site to manufacture the first Arabelle steam turbine for Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
 

Units 1 and 2 of the Forsmark nuclear power plant can be operated safely for a further 10 years, until 2028, taking them beyond their initial 40-year planned operation, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said yesterday.

Nawah Energy Company - which will operate the UAE's first nuclear power plant at Barakah - has today signed a long-term maintenance services agreement with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, supported by Kepco Plant Service & Engineering. It has also signed a five-year maintenance service agreement with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts yesterday completed a review of long-term operational safety at units 1 and 2 of Sweden's Forsmark nuclear power plant. The team assessed the plant's preparedness, organisation and programmes related to long-term operation against IAEA safety standards.

France's Framatome has launched a range of new protective coatings that it says can reduce maintenance costs and extend the operating life of components and equipment used in nuclear power plants. The first application of this technology has been at Dominion Energy's Surry plant in the US state of Virginia.

Preparations are under way for fuel loading to begin at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington 2 which is currently undergoing a mid-life refurbishment - 30 years after the first fuel bundle was loaded into the unit.

A 'Call to Action' for accelerating innovative solutions to sustain and advance the current operational fleet of nuclear power plants has been issued by the attendees of the Global Forum on Innovation for the Future of Nuclear Energy, held last week in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Nuclear power reactors in Japan that have resumed operation could be forced to temporarily shut down again if back-up safety measures are not in place by specified deadlines under new rules approved by the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority. Operators of restarted units have already said they expect delays in the completion of such facilities.

Wood plc has been awarded a "multi-million dollar" contract by EDF Energy to provide engineering and technical services to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant under construction in Somerset, UK.