Monday, 13 July 2026

Blykalla and Hitachi Energy have agreed to explore a long-term partnership on lead-cooled advanced modular reactors, World Nuclear News reported. The outlet identified Hitachi Energy as the energy arm of Japan's Hitachi Group and Blykalla as based in Sweden.

The two companies formalized the arrangement in a memorandum of understanding covering deployment of the next-generation reactor design. Blykalla is building the SEALER, the Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor.

The company wants its first commercial unit, the SEALER-55 rated at 140 MWt and 55 MWe, running early in the next decade, according to World Nuclear News.

Blykalla filed an application with the Swedish government in May to build a plant at Norrsundet, Gävle, in east central Sweden, the outlet reported. The proposed site would house six SEALER reactors and reach a combined 330 MWe.

Formerly called LeadCold, Blykalla spun out of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where work on lead-cooled reactor systems dates to 1996. It was incorporated as a joint stock company in 2013.

Blykalla chief executive Jacob Stedman said the tie-up supports the company's push toward commercialisation.

Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) has asked Poland's Minister of Energy for a Contract for Difference to build 14 BWRX-300 small modular reactors across three sites, according to World Nuclear News.

The reactors would go up in Włocławek, Stawy Monowskie near Oświęcim, and Stalowa Wola, World Nuclear News reported. These are the opening phase of a wider OSGE plan for 26 BWRX-300 units, matching decisions the company secured from the Polish government.

"The Contract for Difference for 14 units will enable us to build a fleet of BWRX-300 reactors in Poland," OSGE chief executive Rafał Kasprów said, according to World Nuclear News.

OSGE expects the first unit to enter service in Włocławek in 2032.

The BWRX-300, developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, is a 300 MWe water-cooled reactor that relies on natural circulation and passive safety systems. The first of the type is being built at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, with completion due by the end of the decade.

Poland's larger reactor programme has already cleared a European hurdle. In December 2025, the European Commission found that planned public support for Poland's first large-scale nuclear plant met EU state aid rules, according to World Nuclear News. That backing covers three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania, built by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, and includes a two-way Contract for Difference that guarantees revenue across the plant's 60-year lifetime.

The inner containment dome has been lifted into place at the second unit of Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant, according to World Nuclear News.

The lift used a heavy duty crawler crane and took about seven hours, and involved more than 40 specialists at the site, World Nuclear News reported. Pre-assembly of the dome, made of 15 assembly sections, took about four months near the reactor building, according to the same report.

Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 units at Akkuyu in Turkey's southern Mersin province, World Nuclear News reported. Last month Turkey's nuclear regulator granted a permit for commissioning work on the second unit, according to the same report.

When completed, the Akkuyu plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs at a capacity of 4,800 MWe, according to World Nuclear News. The aim is for unit 1 to begin supplying Turkey's energy system during 2026, the report said.

Turkey is also developing plans for small modular reactors, aiming to add 5 GWe of capacity by 2050, equivalent to at least 16 individual SMRs, according to World Nuclear News.

Aalo Atomics' Aalo-X test reactor completed a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration early Saturday at Idaho National Laboratory, becoming the fourth DOE-authorized advanced reactor to reach the milestone, according to the US Department of Energy.

The experiment ran under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program and exceeded the July 4, 2026 goal set by President Trump in his May 2025 executive order, the department said.

Aalo Atomics President and CTO Yasir Arafat said the company moved from breaking ground to a sustained chain reaction in just eight months, calling it one of the fastest reactor builds in modern American history.

The fourth criticality followed Deployable Energy's Unity demonstration reactor, which achieved criticality at Idaho National Laboratory and became the third DOE-authorized advanced reactor to go critical by the July 4, 2026 deadline, the department said. Deployable Energy completed the Unity experiment under the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative, managed by the National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he toured the Unity reactor and met with teams from Deployable Energy, INL and DOE the week before the criticality announcement.

Earlier in the same month, Antares Nuclear's Mark-0 and Valar Atomics' Ward 250 reactors achieved criticality under the Reactor Pilot Program, according to the DOE. The department said the United States became the first country to achieve criticality in three unique advanced microreactor designs in a single month.

Constellation has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend operations of the Ginna Clean Energy Center and Nine Mile Point Unit 1 in upstate New York to 2049, according to Power Engineering Nuclear.

The company filed its Ginna renewal request on June 17 and its Nine Mile Point Unit 1 request on March 25, Power Engineering Nuclear reported. If the NRC approves the applications, the units' operating licenses would run 20 additional years, to 2049.

Nine Mile Point Unit 1 is currently licensed to operate until August 22, 2029, according to Power Engineering Nuclear.

The 576-MW Ginna Clean Energy Center recorded 2025 net generation of 5,035,000 MWh at a capacity factor of 99.7%, Power Engineering Nuclear reported. The 1,907-MW Nine Mile Point Clean Energy Center produced 13,965,000 MWh in 2025 at a capacity factor of 95.6%.

Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation, said the company's four upstate nuclear units provide nearly half of New York's clean power.

Constellation argued that renewal of the Zero-Emission Credit (ZEC) program is projected to deliver USD 50 billion in ratepayer savings by 2050, contribute USD 38 billion to New York's economy, secure 14,000 local jobs, and preserve USD 10 billion in state tax revenue.