Contract signed for delivery of UK's first SMRs - World Nuclear News

As the European Industrial Alliance on SMRs says it is now assessing a second round of applications, Nuward's CEO has said that it aims to start construction of the first of an initial fleet of 10 units in 2030. In a standing-room-only side event at the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna, a series of speakers gave an update on progress. A second call for projects to be supported under the alliance has just closed, and the meeting heard that there are already around 10 "very concrete SMR projects, and we expect to add a few more now through a process of additional selection".

Poland's Ministry of Energy, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe and Polska Grupa Energetyczna have signed an agreement defining the division of tasks and principles of cooperation in preparing the construction of the country's second nuclear power plant. In September 2021, it was announced that six large pressurised water reactors with a combined installed capacity of 6-9 GWe could be built by 2040 as part of the country's plan to reduce its reliance on coal. According to the adopted schedule, the construction of the first nuclear power plant would start in 2026, with the first reactor - with a capacity of 1.0-1.6 GWe - being commissioned in 2033. Subsequent units would be implemented every 2 to 3 years.

In early September, the organization behind Canada’s push for small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) quietly signalled their demise. In 2016, the president of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories proclaimed that “SMRs can live among the annals of great Canadian innovations.” Ten years later, the organization announced the termination of its two programs to support SMR development.

A Russian man secretly working for Ukraine's intelligence services has shared videos of surveillance work he says he has done for Kyiv inside Russia. The man, who we are calling Ivan, claims to have played a role in Ukrainian drone attacks on strategic bombers and munitions factories on his home soil. He features in a BBC World Service documentary about the shadowy world of Russian saboteurs. Ivan was cautious about how much detail he shared, making it impossible to verify the activities he claims to have carried out.56 minutes ago

Site search54 minutes agoMonica GarnseyBBC Eye Two Russian men secretly working for Ukraine's intelligence services have given rare accounts of operations they claim to have been involved with, that have targeted military assets and personnel inside Russia. One of the men, whom we are calling Ivan, claims to have played a role from Russia in Ukrainian drone attacks on strategic bombers and munitions factories on his home soil. He features in a BBC World Service documentary about the shadowy world of Russian saboteurs. The documentary, by independent Polish journalist Marcin Mamon, also features a man we are calling Foma, a Russian living in exile in Poland. Foma runs a network of undercover volunteers in Russia, that surveils high-level officers that the GUR - Ukraine's military intelligence service - is considering targeting, he says. He stresses they are never involved in the attacks themselves. Getty ImagesLt Gen Fanil Sarvarov was killed in Moscow last year by an explosive device hidden under his carThere have been previous media reports of Russian sabotage groups, but it is rare to get access to someone operating on the ground, like Ivan, explaining alleged activities.