Companies mentioned include: AECL, Atomstroyexport, AREVA, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Xcel Energy, CLP Nuclear Investment Company, China Light and Power Holdings, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company.

Jordan to receive nuclear reactor bids

Competition is on for the construction of the Jordan’s first nuclear reactor as energy officials launch the programme’s technology selection phase. Energy officials are planning to receive financial bids from three shortlisted firms in mid-August as part of an ongoing technology evaluation process, The Jordan Times reported. 

By the end of the year, Amman will be selecting one of three firms to construct a 1,000MW Generation III reactor. They are: Canadian AECL, Russian Atomstroyexport and a joint venture of French firm AREVA, and Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Officials are also exploring the construction of a second reactor within three years of the first, which is to be online by 2019. A separate tender will be launched later this year for a strategic operator to take part in managing the country’s first nuclear power plant. Atomic energy officials have previously indicated that the technology selection will have no bearing on the selection of the strategic operator.

Hong Kong firm invests in China nuclear plant

CLP Nuclear Investment Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's China Light and Power Holdings Ltd, has reached an agreement with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company Ltd. to invest in its Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station Project in western Guangdong province, purchasing a 17% share in the nuclear power plant for $11 billion.

The facility's electrical production is 6,000MW, consisting of six 1,000MW pressurized water reactors, a configuration similar to Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power complex. Construction on the facility began in 2008 in Guangdong province. The nuclear power project is located 147 miles west of Hong Kong and construction is expected to be commissioned in phases between 2013 and 2017. The station will supply electricity to meet local demand in Guangdong province.

U.S. and India team for nuclear work

The U.S. Department of Energy is teaming with counterparts in New Delhi to examine technology in civilian nuclear research. An agreement was signed between the Energy Department and the Indian Department of Atomic Energy to explore accelerator and particle detector research. The agreement provides a legal framework for joint projects in civilian nuclear research, specifically aiming to expand superconductor research at national laboratories in the United States.

The countries in May had outlined a $25 million funding opportunity for a joint clean energy research centre that would focus on solar energy and advanced biofuels. The U.S. Department of Commerce is planning a trade mission to India in November to discuss commercial partnerships in the clean energy sector. (Source: UPI)

UK Parliament approval paves the way for new nuclear power stations

The House of Commons has voted to approve the Government’s energy National Policy Statements (NPSs), paving the way for a new generation of nuclear power stations. The NPSs will now be used by the independent Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) – until it is disbanded by the localism bill in favour of a ministerial planning body – to inform planning decisions in England and Wales.

According to Energy Efficiency News, the statements are designed to streamline planning processes for large infrastructure projects across the energy sector, with specific statements covering fossil fuels, gas, electricity networks and nuclear power. The nuclear NPS outlines the eight sites where new nuclear power stations can be developed between now and 2025. The potentially suitable locations include Bradwell in Essex, Hartlepool, Heysham in Lancashire, Hinkley Point in Somerset, Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Sellafield in Cumbria, Sizewell in Suffolk and Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey.

Unit 1 nuclear plant resumes operations

The Unit 1 at Xcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear power plant in the U.S. state of Minnesota has returned to service after the company fixed an oil leak on a turbine valve on the non-nuclear side of the facility.

The unit was shut down last week after an oil leak occurred, and the plant's Unit 2 continued to operate at full power throughout the oil leak fixing process at the Unit 1. The Prairie Island plant near Red Wing has a total capacity of 1,100MW and generates enough electricity to power nearly one million homes. The power plant first became operational in 1973 and is owned and run by U.S.-based Xcel Energy.