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U.S.-based small modular reactor developer NuScale Power and fuel-development company Enfission, announced Wednesday they had signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the use of next generation nuclear fuel technology in NuScale’s small modular reactors.

Wisconsin-based SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc., announced May 9 that the company had launched into construction of their first medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin with a ground-breaking ceremony.

Several Chinese companies, notably Dongfang Electric Corporation and China State Construction and Engineering Corporation, have expressed interest in building a second nuclear power plant for Bangladesh, the country’s nuclear power regulator said.

French nuclear regulator ASN (Autorite de surete nucleaire) said that it was investigating potential fraud cases as a wider reach to the documentation scandal at Areva's Creusot Forge that began with the discovery of irregularities in pressure vessel steel found at the Flamanville Unit 3 construction project in Normandy in April 2015.

Exelon Generation confirmed this week that it would be closing down Three Mile Island Generating Station’s Unit 1 (TMI 1) reactor 15 years ahead of schedule due to the lack of support from the state in an era of strong economic headwinds for nuclear power.

Romanian nuclear power plant operator Nuclearelectrica said Wednesday that it had signed a preliminary investors agreement with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) for the development of two new units at the Cernavoda NPP.

Framatome said it had signed a contract to deliver two full fuel assemblies using the company’s industry-leading Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) solution to Exelon Generation’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant with delivery expected in February 2021.

China National Nuclear Corporation said that cold hydrostatic testing was initiated at the end of April for Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 5, the first of two HPR1000 reactor under construction at the site.

Salt Lake City, Utah-based EnergySolutions, Inc. said last week it had signed a contract with the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) to decommission the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had issued a direct final rule to certify the Korean-designed APR1400 reactor, which will become effective 120 after it appears in the Federal Register.

Scaled-down nuclear reactor developer NuScale said Tuesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s industrial giant Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd. (DHIC) to form a strategic alliance to support development of the U.S. company’s small nuclear reactor.

Workers at the Hanford Site in southeast Washington have completed the filling a second waste storage tunnel with engineered grout, significantly reducing the risk of a collapse and possible release of radioactive materials, the Department of Energy said on Monday.

Framatome of France announced on Tuesday that it had been awarded a contract to modernize the reactor protection system at the Gosgen Nuclear Power Plant operated by the Swiss utility Kernkraftwerk Gosgen-Daniken AG. The reactor protection system powers down the reactor in the case of any operations deviations.

After 72 hours of testing, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declared the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site to be completed.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans to provide $7.5 million for new research on nuclear data. The aim, the department said, is to expand and improve the quality of data needed for a wide range of nuclear-related activities from basic research in nuclear science, to isotope production, nonproliferation efforts, and nuclear power generation.

Rosatom operations subsidiary Rosenergoatom said that the twin KLT-40 icebreaker reactors on the floating power station Akademik Lomonosov had passed comprehensive pre-licensing tests and would be issued operating license in July.

The China National Nuclear Corporation said this week that it had completed a 50 MWe net upgrade of the country's oldest domestic nuclear power plant to 350 MWe, calling the engineering work an "important reference ... for the power enhancement of subsequent power stations."

The company in charge of decommissioning at the fast breeder research and development site in Scotland, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said it had awarded six framework contracts that involve 28 companies and their supply chains.

Russia’s state-owned nuclear power corporation Rosatom said last week that that workers had poured the first concrete for the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II unit 2.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) said that the Shin Kori 4 reactor had reached first criticality and that the plant was on schedule to begin commercial operations by the end of August.

Japanese utility Tepco announced to local news media in Japan that the company had begun fuel rod removal from the damaged reactor building No. 3, as of Monday this week.

Slovakian utility Slovenske Elektrame said that unit 3 of the Machovce nuclear plant had completed all of the hot hydro testing and had moved to the next commissioning phase with the final major inspection of the unit.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved of a licensing Orano USA's NUHOMS dry storage systems, that will permit "significantly shorter cooling times—as short as two years—and higher decay heat" the company announced.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced that fuel loading at the near-completed Olkiluoto 3 reactor, long delayed during construction, will be postponed for about two months.

Some of the evacuees from the town of Okuma, west of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power disaster site, have been invited to return to their homes, which have been declared safe for habitation, Japanese media reports.