First fuel loaded into Tianwan unit 7 as preparations continue

The first of 163 nuclear fuel assemblies was loaded into the reactor of Tianwan unit 7 on 12 August, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced. CNNC said the start of fuel loading “lays a solid foundation for the subsequent reactor criticality and commercial operation”.

For the initial loading, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom supplied the fuel in January. CNNC said the fuel was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and forms part of the contract for Tianwan units 7 and 8.

Beyond fuel operations, CNNC reported that hot tests—designed to simulate the temperatures and pressures the reactor systems will face during normal operation—had been completed at unit 7 on 30 December. Cold tests, which are used to verify leak-tightness of the primary circuit and components, were completed for unit 8 earlier this month.

Tianwan units 7 and 8 are VVER-1200 reactors associated with agreements signed by Russia and China in June 2018. Construction of unit 7 began in May 2021, followed by unit 8 starting in February 2022. The project construction plan schedules commercial operation in 2026 for unit 7 and 2027 for unit 8.

CNNC said the Tianwan nuclear power plant is owned and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company, a joint venture between CNNC (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%). The first four units at the Tianwan site entered commercial operation between June 2007 and December 2018, using Gidropress VVER units supplied by Russia. Units 5 and 6 feature Chinese ACPR1000 reactors.

When all units at Tianwan are operational, the site’s total installed capacity is expected to exceed 9 GWe, with annual generation over 70 TWh and an indicated annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 57.4 million tonnes.

Why could we build nuclear power plants so much faster in the 1970s and 1980s?

It's a question worth asking.

During the 1970s and 1980s, countries such as France, Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union commissioned dozens of nuclear reactors in what now seems like remarkably short timeframes.

Today, even with modern engineering tools, digital design, advanced manufacturing and vastly greater computing power, delivering a new nuclear power plant often takes much longer.

So what changed?

Many assume the answer is reactor technology.
But that's only part of the story.

Over the past four decades, the nuclear industry has changed in ways that go far beyond reactor design. Supply chains have contracted, manufacturing capacity has declined in many regions, experienced workforces have retired, licensing has become more complex, and every new project often starts almost from scratch instead of building on a repeatable programme.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing nuclear today isn't designing reactors.
It's rebuilding the industrial ecosystem that once allowed them to be delivered at scale.

The future of nuclear will depend not only on better reactors, but on stronger supply chains.

KEC International reports lower first-quarter net profit for 2026-27

First-quarter 2026-27 financial performance

KEC International Limited reported a net profit of Rs 0.73 billion for the quarter ending June 2026. The company said this result represents a decrease of about 42 per cent compared with Rs 1.25 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Total income for the quarter ending June 2026 was Rs 50.37 billion. This was reported as an increase of about 0.18 per cent versus Rs 50.28 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Supply-chain relevance for nuclear vendors

While the disclosure does not provide project- or customer-specific information, contractor financial updates can be used by supply-chain stakeholders to monitor vendor health and resilience. In this case, the quarter’s profit decline contrasts with relatively stable income levels, which may be relevant for assessing near-term profitability trends.