News of the world

This document gathers information from nuclear industry throughout the world. The most relevant follows. Electrabel (Belgium) wishes to modulate (up to 50%) the power output of its nuclear reactors in order to integrate more easily renewable electricity in the grid. BKW has decided to decommission the Muehleberg nuclear plant (Switzerland) in 2019, the decision has been taken because the long-term operation of the plant would have required too important investment. Byelorussian authorities have issued the construction permit for the first unit of the first nuclear power plant in the country, the reactor will be of Russian design (VVER-type reactor) with a power output of 1200 MW and is expected to be commissioned in 2018. Jordanian authorities have announced that the Russian company Rosatom is in charge of constructing the first nuclear power plant in the country in the Amra region. AREVA will provide the EPZ company (the Netherlands) with MOX fuel for the Borssele nuclear power plant. The Netherlands are the seventh country to use MOX fuel in its nuclear reactors. The SUSI technology, designed by AREVA in Germany, uses a submarine robot able to inspect the primary cooling system of nuclear power plants. The SUSI robot has recently been used in the USA in the framework of the life extension of nuclear reactors. (A.C.)