International

Recent happenings in Europe highlight that nuclear power activities are expanding globally. Here is a roundup of headlines with an international flavor.

Serbia reached a significant milestone in 2024 when its National Assembly overturned a moratorium on nuclear power plants that had been in place for 35 years, a ban imposed when the country was part of the former Yugoslavia.

Fast forward to 2026 and the European country’s nuclear energy ambitions have become clearer. On July 13, Serbia’s Ministry of Mining and Energy held a four-day workshop outlining the country’s plans to kickstart a nuclear program.

Sizewell B, on the Suffolk coast of England, has been granted a 20-year life extension. The nuclear power plant, which began operating in 1995, will now remain in operation until 2055. Sizewell B owner and operator EDF Energy agreed to make extra investments to maintain the facility, with additional investment funds coming from Centrica, which owns a 20 percent share in EDF’s U.K. reactors.

Holtec president Rick Springman (left) and EDF CFO Rob Guyler pose with the signed joint proposal for deployment of Holtec’s SMR-300 at Cottam. (Photo: Holtec)

Jupiter, Fla.–headquartered Holtec International has announced that it and London-based EDF Energy have jointly submitted a proposal to the government of the United Kingdom for deployment of Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactors at Cottam, Nottinghamshire. Holtec International and EDF Energy have established a joint venture to advance development of the proposed SMR project at the site in England’s East Midlands, which hosts a gas-fired power plant and previously hosted a coal plant.

International cooperation in the monitoring of radiation levels in seawater near the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues. Scientists from China, South Korea, and Switzerland were recently joined by International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi as they collected seawater samples under the “additional measures” framework, which was adapted in 2024 to increase the participation of other countries and enhance the transparency of the IAEA-led analyses.

Canada has launched a Nuclear Energy Strategy, a long-term vision of its nuclear power potential that includes plans to deploy up to 10 new large-scale reactors in the country by 2040.

The June 22 announcement, along with ongoing projects at Darlington and Bruce Power, further confirm Canada's ambitions to expand its nuclear power presence not just domestically but also abroad. Four pillars stand at the heart of the country’s Nuclear Energy Strategy: new nuclear builds in Canada, maintaining its status as a top nuclear supplier and exporter, expanding uranium production, and continuing nuclear fission and fusion innovations.

This week, two significant announcements have emerged from the United Kingdom’s advanced reactor sector.

On June 14, Rolls-Royce, the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency announced that they had signed two trilateral memorandums of cooperation to collaborate on “advanced modular reactor (AMR) technology, specifically high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR), and the coated particle fuel these reactors will use.”

Separately, on June 16, Bellevue, Wash.–based TerraPower announced that its Natrium reactor design has been formally submitted for U.K. regulatory review. The company also announced the formation of a new subsidiary, TerraPower UK Ltd.

Within the span of two weeks, three Swedish companies—Blykalla, Studsvik, and Nordic Baseload Power—submitted applications to their country’s government for state aid for their respective new nuclear builds. Applications are handled by Sweden’s Ministry of Finance.

In early June, SMR developer Blykalla submitted its application to the Swedish government, followed by engineering services firm Studsvik on June 12. And on June 16, energy company Nordic Baseload Power became the latest to apply for financial support. Overall, the Swedish government has received four applications for state aid since last year.

Operational nuclear power sites in China, May 2026. (Source: EIA, with additional data from World Bank, Global Energy Monitor, Global Nuclear Power Tracker, and the IAEA. Image: EIA)

China’s nuclear power capacity has increased from 31.4 gigawatts in 2016 to 58.7 GW in May—an 87 percent increase in the last 10 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The EIA’s analysis of China’s nuclear power growth was based on information gathered by the agency, as well as data from the World Bank, Global Energy Monitor, Global Nuclear Power Tracker, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was published on June 5.

Japan will need to replace as many as 14 of its nuclear reactors by the 2050s in order to meet its future energy demands, a recently released draft policy proposal states.

New developments in Sweden’s nuclear energy industry continue to make headlines. Last week, Swedish engineering services firm Studsvik submitted an application to build between 600 MWe and 1,400 MWe of new nuclear power capacity “at and around” its Nyköping Municipality headquarters. Separately, the Swedish government is looking to acquire a majority ownership stake in Videberg Kraft AB.

Today, there are 34 countries with operational nuclear power plants—but there are dozens more working on building a nuclear plant of their own. While progress on these projects inevitably ebbs and flows, broadly, momentum seems to be building on the international stage.

That growing momentum manifested last week in Kazakhstan’s announcement that it has officially partnered with Russia on a new nuclear power plant project. Prior to these new agreements, Russia, which borders Kazakhstan to the north, was already engaged in extensive preliminary work on the project.

Nuclear officials in Kenya want to engage with residents in Siaya County and keep them informed as the country moves toward building its first nuclear power plant.

The state-run Nuclear Power and Energy Agency said on May 23 it will conduct a “robust, transparent, and multilayered educational campaign to address all anxieties regarding safety, livelihoods, and land,” and that no infrastructure would be built without “broad, informed consent of the community.”

SMR-300 deployments, power plant names, trade missions, agreements between neighboring countries, and renewed interest in nuclear energy are among the notable developments that occurred internationally in the month of May.

Sweden-based advanced reactor developer Blykalla has applied to build a site in its home country that would feature six lead-cooled small modular reactors. The 330-MWe facility would house a half-dozen 55-MWe Sealer reactors, which the company said are designed for hyperscalers and energy-intensive industries.

The University of Missouri’s President’s Distinguished Lecture Series featured a talk by William D. Magwood IV, director general of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and a former NRC commissioner, on May 13 at the Columbia campus’s Bond Life Sciences Center. Magwood speech was titled “The Next Nuclear Energy Era: Opportunities and Challenges.”

At the Canadian Nuclear Association Conference (CNA2026) in Ottawa, Ontario, on April 29, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson announced that Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is developing a new Nuclear Energy Strategy for the country. The strategy, which is slated to be released by the end of this year, will be based on four objectives: 1) enabling new nuclear builds across Canada, 2) being a global supplier and exporter of nuclear technology and services, 3) expanding uranium production and nuclear fuel opportunities, and 4) developing new Canadian nuclear innovations, including in both fission and fusion technologies.

Commercial operations have resumed at Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced.

Last week’s commercial restart of Unit 6, a 1,315-MWe boiling water reactor, is the first for a TEPCO nuclear facility since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami triggered an accident at the utility’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Ten months after Rolls-Royce SMR emerged as the United Kingdom’s preferred bidder to build the U.K.’s first small modular reactors, the company and the U.K. government’s Great British Energy–Nuclear (GBE-N) have signed a contract allowing work to begin at the site of the decommissioned Wylfa nuclear plant in North Wales.

Kenya and Rwanda are continuing to make progress toward deployment of their first nuclear reactors sometime in the near future, according to recent developments coming out of the African continent. Here are updates on the two countries’ nuclear ambitions.