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PUBLIC HEARINGS HAVE been held in the Ussuri urban district of Russia’s far east Primorsky Territory on the construction of a NPP with two VVER-1000. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 with operation of the first unit scheduled for 2033 and the second for 2035. The Razdolnoye site near Krasny Yar, 14 km from Ussuriysk, was identified as the priority site.
SOUTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR Safety & Security Commission (NSSC) said it has completed all the mandatory inspections required before unit 3 at Saeul NPP in Ulju, Ulsan, can proceed to first criticality. NSSC approved the operation of Saeul 3 in December 2025.
EGYPT AND RUSSIA ARE seeking to accelerate work on the El Dabaa NPP, reaffirming their commitment to keeping the project on track as part of ongoing energy cooperation between the two countries, Egyptian media reported. Egypt’s minister of electricity Mahmoud Esmat, emphasised the importance of enhanced coordination to ensure timely delivery.
SOUTH AFRICA’S STATE-OWNED power company, Eskom, has identified Thyspunt on the Eastern Cape coast as the preferred site for a proposed 5,200 MWe NPP, according to a draft environmental scoping report prepared by WSP Group Africa. In December 2025, Eskom, started an environmental impact assessment EIA for a third NPP at either Thyspunt on the Eastern Cape coast or Bantamsklip on the Overberg coast.
THE PRESSURE REACTOR VESSEL has been installed at unit 2 of China’s Lianjiang NPP in the Guangdong - one of two CAP-1000 reactors planned for the first phase of the plant. State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) said this marked the start of the equipment installation phase for both units of the first phase of the project.
PLANT OPERATION CZECH STATE POWER started a preparatory process to enable the long-term operation of the Dukovany NPP. strategy as a stable and reliable supplier of low-emission electricity even in times of dynamic changes on the energy market. Analyses are also being carried out on the possible longer operation of Temelín NPP.
THE US NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission has approved Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E’s) 20-year licence renewal application for extended operations of Diablo Canyon Power Plant. The approval follows a public process through which NRC determined that the plant is safe and environmentally sound to operate for another 20 years.
6 | May 2026 |
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Criticality for India’s PFBR
India’s 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has achieved first criticality. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), issued clearance after a review of safety of the plant. The technology development and design of the PFBR, a sodium-cooled fast reactor, was by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), an R&D Centre of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It was built and commissioned by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the DAE. With first criticality, India moves closer to
India’s 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) has achieved first criticality. Source: ANS/X @NarendraModi
Simultaneously, the Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle
realising its three-stage nuclear power programme. Fast breeder reactors (FBRs) represents stage two and forms the bridge between the current fleet of pressurised heavy water reactors (stage one) and the future deployment of thorium-based reactors (stage three), leveraging India’s abundant thorium resources. India’s three-stage nuclear power programme was planned by physicist Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to reduce dependence on imported uranium through the use of thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The PFBR uses uranium-plutonium mixed oxide
(MOX) fuel. The core is surrounded by a blanket of uranium-238. Fast neutrons convert fertile this into fissile plutonium-239, enabling the reactor to produce more fuel than it consumes. The reactor is designed to eventually use thorium-232 in the blanket. Through transmutation, thorium-232 will be converted into uranium-233 in the third stage of India’s nuclear power programme. Beyond energy generation, the fast breeder
programme strengthens strategic capabilities in nuclear fuel cycle technologies, advanced materials, reactor physics and large-scale engineering. The knowledge and infrastructure developed through this programme will support future reactor designs and next-generation nuclear technologies. The PFBR was loaded with fuel in October
2025. It will be some months before it reaches full capacity and even longer before it produces useful electricity. Once operational, the PFBR is expected to generate 500 MWe with a design life of 40 years. Current plans call for building six FBR-600 units, co-locating two reactors at each site to share common auxiliary systems and reduce costs. The first twin unit is planned at the BHAVINI premises at Kalpakkam, close to the PFBR.
Facility (FRFCF) is under construction at Kalpakkam. It is designed to reprocess used fuel from FBRs and is expected to be completed by December 2027. This facility will be essential for closing the fuel cycle and extracting bred plutonium for use in future FBRs, according to the DAE. Construction of the PFBR began in 2004 and
was originally scheduled to be completed in 2010. The project was delayed by approximately 16 years due to a combination of technical, financial, and external challenges. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that struck the Kalpakkam site shortly after construction began required a re-evaluation of safety features and protective structures. Repeated delays caused the project cost to more than double, rising from an original estimate of about INR 35bn ($375m) to approximately INR77bn. Because of India’s historical position outside the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), there was very little sharing of technical “know-how”. India’s NPT status also led to international trade bans, making it difficult to procure high-end nuclear components and technology. India had to develop its own materials, such
as specific grades of stainless steel (316LN) that could survive 40 years of sodium exposure. Every component – from the sodium pumps to the steam generators – had to be designed and manufactured by Indian companies (such as L&T and BHEL) for the first time. Significant setbacks occurred during the commissioning of sodium pumps and secondary cooling systems. There were also persistent difficulties in producing the mixed oxide fuel elements. Despite these difficulties, India’s nuclear programme is progressing. Currently India has a fleet of 18-20 pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) that use natural uranium as fuel and produce plutonium-239 as a by-product – the first stage of the programme. With criticality of the PFBR it is now embarking on stage two. ■
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