Start-ups. The start-up process has begun for Unit 7 of China’s Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant with the loading of the first fuel assemblies into the reactor core. Earlier, the National Nuclear Safety Administration issued a start-up permit for the reactor unit. During the initial stage, 163 fuel assemblies will be loaded into the reactor. Following this, the reactor will be brought to zero-power criticality for the engineers to conduct essential tests on the control and protection systems. The process will then move to the first electricity phase, which includes synchronization with the Chinese power grid and a step-by-step increase in power to 100%. The Tianwan NPP is the largest Russia-China economic cooperation project. Unit 7 with a VVER-1200 reactor is being constructed to the design developed by Rosatom’s Engineering Division. The joint Russian-Chinese project to build Units 7 and 8 was launched in 2021.

Education. The 7th international scientific and educational expedition of Rosatom, Icebreaker of Knowledge, organized by Rosatom, has returned to Murmansk. Over the course of ten days, 68 students from Russia and 22 other countries traveled aboard the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy on a route from Murmansk to the North Pole via Franz Josef Land. Members of the expedition attended lectures, participated in workshops, and conducted scientific experiments, including the launch of a radiosonde at the North Pole and the testing of a reusable high-altitude platform station designed for Arctic monitoring. The Icebreaker of Knowledge initiative aims to promote natural sciences and nuclear technologies, identify and support talented children, develop their skills, and assist them with career guidance. Over seven seasons, the initiative has brought more than 470 gifted students from around the world to the North Pole.

Construction sites. Concreting of the fourth tier has been completed for the reactor building’s inner containment shell at El Dabaa Unit 1. With this step finished, the reactor building has reached an elevation of 34 meters. The height of this last concreted tier was 9.6 meters. “The successful completion of the fourth tier of the inner containment shell at Unit 1 is a new, strategically important milestone in the project implementation. This achievement is the result of effective cooperation and coordinated efforts by all teams involved in the construction process,” said Sherif Helmy, Chairman of the Board at the Nuclear Power Plants Authority of Egypt. Egypt’s first nuclear power plant in El Dabaa will have four power units equipped with VVER-1200 reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 MW.