The UK should focus on developing small modular reactors (SMRs) to secure its nuclear industry after the country's exit from the European Union, according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). In its report Leaving the EU, the Euratom Treaty Part 2: A Framework for the Future, issued on 5 May, IMechE says SMRs could "present the UK with key export opportunities and return the country to the international nuclear reactor supply arena". World-nuclear-news.org
The VC Summer nuclear construction project is now over 64% complete, South Carolina Electricity & Gas (SCG&E) said in its latest progress report to the state's Public Service Commission. The substantial completion dates for the two AP1000 units are currently unchanged from previous timelines but are to be re-evaluated in light of Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy filing. World-nuclear-news.org
Argentina's energy deputy secretary Julian Gadano confirmed this week that China and Argentina will sign contracts on May 17 for construction of two nuclear reactors, comprising Atucha III, which will be constructed in the province of Buenos Aires close to Atucha II. Nuclearstreet.com
When the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 nuclear power plant was finally approaching completion the big public utility hailed it as “the nation’s first new nuclear generation of the 21st century.” That was in October 2015, and the plant was thought to be only a few months away from going online. But it wasn’t until October 2016 that Watts Bar 2 began operating commercially. In March, just over five months later, the plant went offline — and it’s expected to remain offline at least into this summer, the TVA region’s peak period for electrical demand. Latimes.com
