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PLANT OPERATION SOUTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR Safety & Security Commission (NSSC) has approved continued operation of unit 2 at the Kori NPP in Busan, Gijang County, until 2033. NSSC voted on the Kori-2 extension, passing it with five votes in favour and one against. The 685 MWe PWR has been offline since its original 40-year operating permit expired in April 2023.


SOUTH AFRICA’S STATE-owned power utility, Eskom announced that the National Nuclear Regulator has approved a 20-year licence extension for unit 2 of the Koeberg NPP, enabling continued operation until 9 November 2045. This follows Eskom’s submission of detailed safety assessments, technical reviews, and infrastructure upgrades as part of the station’s Long-Term Operation plan.


DIGITAL & SOFTWARE A CONSORTIUM OF six European nuclear and digital companies are co-operating to establish Data4NuclearX, a digital space for data exchange, managed by major clients in the sector and French Nuclear Energy Industry Group GIFEN. The consortium includes EDF, CEA, Dawex, GIFEN, the Institut Mines-Télécom and Sopra Steria.


FRANCE-BASED ENGINEERING company Assystem and nuclear start-up newcleo are collaborating on the deployment of a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. newcleo has chosen to implement a PLM platform to structure, secure and digitalise its entire industrial ecosystem. This is aligned with the group’s digital roadmap and addresses the challenges associated with the design and industrialisation of its technologies.


POLICY ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS HAVE passed Senate Bill 25 that ends the state’s 40-year moratorium on large-scale nuclear plants by 37-22 votes. The Illinois General Assembly earlier passed the clean energy bill by 70-37 votes. The bill lifts the ban on new large-scale nuclear reactors from 1 January 2026. It also seeks to streamline permitting processes.


SAFETY & SECURITY SPECIALISTS FROM THE All-Russian Thermal Engineering Institute have completed a set of studies monitoring the condition of the inner surface of the heat exchange tubes of the steam generator of the BN-800 power unit at the Beloyarsk NPP. The research results are of practical importance for increasing the reliability of equipment operation and predicting their specific contamination.


Wylfa to host SMRs


The UK government has selected Wylfa on Anglesey (Welsh name Ynys Môn) in North Wales as the site for the UK’s first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power station. “North Wales will become a beacon in the


‘golden age’ of nuclear, delivering the UK’s first ever small modular nuclear reactors built by publicly-owned Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) and, subject to final contract, designed by Britain’s Rolls-Royce SMR – proving that the UK can still build big projects that stand the test of time,” a government statement said. Rolls-Royce SMR was announced in June as


GBE-N’s preferred bidder to build the UK’s first SMRs, subject to final government approvals and contract signature. GBE-N confirmed that Wylfa will host three Rolls-Royce SMRs, although the site could potentially hold up to eight. Work is expected to start in 2026 for operation by the mid 2030s. Wylfa was the site of the last Magnox reactors built in the UK. The two 490 MWe units began commercial operation in 1971 and 1972. Unit 2 was closed down in 2012, followed by unit 1 in 2015. Defuelling was completed in 2019. In 2009 Hitachi launched its Horizon Project planning to develop two UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor units at Wylfa Newydd but suspended the project in 2019 for economic reasons. In 2024, the government agreed to buy the Hitachi-owned sites for new nuclear at Wylfa and at Oldbury-on-Severn. Rolls-Royce SMR said in 2022 that Wylfa was


one of four NPP sites owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority identified as potential locations for its SMRs. In May 2024, the government announced that Wylfa was also its preferred site for a new large-scale NPP. However, it is not clear whether the SMR plans rule Wylfa out for a large-scale NPP. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced that, alongside the Wylfa


Belarus Third unit to be built at NPP Following a high-level government meeting chaired by President Aleksandr Lukashenko, a decision was taken to build a third unit at the Belarus NPP in Ostravets. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Karankevich said the work on the second phase of the Ostrovets NPP, in Grodno region, will proceed, while parallel studies will explore sites in Mogilev region for further development. In August, Belarusian Energy Minister Denis


Moroz had told ONT TV that a feasibility study on building a second NPP in Belarus or a third unit at the existing NPP was in its final stage. He added that the results of the study would be reported to the government and then at the presidential level in order to make a decision.” He noted that President Lukashenko had ordered an investigation into the issue in 2023


8 | December 2025 | www.neimagazine.com


SMR siting announcement, the government is pursuing the option of a further large-scale reactor project beyond those being developed at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. “The government is announcing that Great British Energy-Nuclear has been tasked with identifying suitable sites that could potentially host such a project,” she said. She added: “GBE-N will report back by Autumn 2026 on potential sites to inform future decisions in the next Spending Review and beyond.” In its latest Spending Review, the government had confirmed major investment in the Sizewell C NPP as well as over £2.5bn ($3.3bn) for the UK’s first SMR programme. Meanwhile, the government said confirmation


of Wylfa as the host site “rights the wrongs of previous failure to bring new nuclear power to North Wales”. Wylfa has a strong nuclear heritage dating back to the 1960s. “The first- of-its-kind project is expected to support up to 3,000 good jobs in the local community at peak construction, underpinned by billions of pounds of infrastructure investment out to the mid-2030s.” The government believes there is also strong


export potential for SMRs, after Rolls-Royce SMR and Czechia’s largest public company, ČEZ, agreed last year to partner on SMRs, with ČEZ acquiring a 20% stake. Rolls-Royce SMR CEO Chris Cholerton said


the Wylfa announcement marks the first step in what will be a 100-year commitment to clean energy, innovation, and community partnership at Wylfa.


The decision to opt for small modular


reactors at Wylfa was criticised by the US ambassador Warren Stephens, who said he was “extremely disappointed”. The UK government said the decision to build the power station in Wales “doesn’t close the door” to a US manufacturer working on a future project. ■


with 2025 as a target. “Detailed work was carried out with the Academy of Sciences, Rosatom State Corporation, and the Russian Ministry of Energy to decide under what conditions and parameters we can integrate another nuclear power plant into the Belarus energy system,” he noted.


The Belarus NPP at Ostravets comprises two


VVER-1200 power units based on the NPP-2006 project. The 2011 intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the plant provides for cooperation in the design, construction and turnkey commissioning of the units. Russia supported the project with a $10bn to cover 90% of the overall cost. Unit 1 was connected to the grid in March 2021. It was the first VVER- 1200 operating outside of Russia. Unit 2 was commissioned in November 2023. The plant’s two units provide about 40% of Belarus’ power.


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