New large Chinese reactor in Pakistan starts up
The 1100 MWe Karachi unit 2 is the first in a pair of Chinese Hualong One reactors to be completed and to start up in Pakistan.  The country has four smaller Chinese reactors inland at Chashma and a very small 50-year old Canadian reactor at Karachi. Pakistan is the first export country to build the new Hualong reactor.  When it is grid-connected about the end of March it will almost double Pakistan’s nuclear power capacity.
WNN 3/3/19.   Pakistan
 
Russia announces plans for first onshore small reactor
The first SMR onshore nuclear power plant in Russia will be built in Yakutia from 2024, with operation scheduled for 2027. It will have two RITM-200M modules. These are derived from those now operating in the LK-60 icebreakers and are integral 175 MWt/50 MWe pressurised water reactors. Operational lifetime is 60 years, with 5-7 year refuelling cycle. This will be a reference plant for export sales. It will provide power for mining operations in the remote region. Several floating nuclear power plants with these reactors are planned for the northern Siberian coast, to service mining and oil production.
WNN 11/11/20.  Russia NP
 
Poland set to draw on US nuclear power support
An intergovernmental agreement signed last year has now come into force, giving the USA 18 months to prepare both technology and finance offers to build nuclear power plants in Poland. The country plans to commission six nuclear units from 2033 to 2043, providing 6 to 9 GWe of new reliable capacity to supply at least one third of the country’s demand. They are expected to be built near the Baltic Sea coast and at Belchatow in central Poland.
 
The USA envisaged that Poland would spend $18 billion on US nuclear technology and services from companies such as Westinghouse, Bechtel and Southern Company, though the total bill for six units was estimated to be $40 billion.  Poland wants to choose a partner to provide the reactor technology and to finance a 49% stake in the project by the end of this year, leaving a controlling share with Poland. 
 
Coal provided 74% of Poland’s electricity in 2019, and the government plans to reduce this to less than one third by 2040. Nuclear power is seen to be essential to achieve this. Poland also aims to become independent of Russian gas supplies, replacing them from Norway and the USA.
 
Deployment of high-temperature reactors (HTRs) for industrial heat production was included in the government’s July 2016 draft strategy for development and has been pursued since. Poland has 13 large chemical plants that need 6500 MWt at 400-550°C. The government plans to build a cogeneration HTR of 200-350 MWt for process heat, and before this a 10 MWt experimental HTR. There has been close cooperation with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency on HTRs, partly with a view to hydrogen production.
WNN 3 & 5/3/21.  Poland
 
International review confirms safety of Belarus plant
The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) has undertaken a peer review of the new Ostrovets. nuclear power plant in Belarus and confirmed its safety in the face of concerns expressed by neighbouring Lithuania. A preliminary report assesses progress against seven criteria arising from EU stress tests following the Fukushima accident. Belarus is engaging voluntarily with the full EU process. Rosatom, which supplied the plant, describes the VVER-1200 as the backbone of its export portfolio comprising 36 units across 12 markets.
WNN 5/3/21.  Belarus