A ceremony was held on 28 July to mark the breaking of ground for the two 1000 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors which will form Phase II of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in Liaoning province in northeast China. The National Development and Reform Commission approved the construction of Phase II in May. The cost of constructing Phase II is 25 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), according to the Xinhua news agency. Over 80% of the equipment to be used in the Phase II units is expected to be sourced domestically. Construction of each of the four CPR-1000 units making up the adjacent Phase I of the Hongyanhe plant is already underway. Yang Xiaofeng, manager of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co, said that all six units at the site should be in operation by the end of 2016. The plant is jointly owned by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) and the China Power Investment Corp, each holding a 45% stake, with the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Co holding the remaining 10%.

Japan's Toshiba Corp and IHI Corp have signed a definitive agreement on forming a joint venture to manufacture steam turbine components for nuclear power plants at home and abroad. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in April to establish the joint venture. Toshiba and IHI plan to have the new joint venture company - Toshiba IHI Power Systems Corp - in place by January 2011. It will be 52% owned by IHI, while Toshiba will hold the remaining 48%. The company will manufacture casings and nozzles for steam turbines at new nuclear power plants for both pressurised water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWRs) for the domestic and overseas markets, as well as providing maintenance services for installed equipment. Based at Yokohama, within IHI's Yokohama headquarters representatives office, the joint venture will have a planned capital of ¥310 million ($3.6 million).

Uranium could in future be shipped from Kazakhstan to Japan via ports along Russia's Pacific coast rather than through western Russian ports, according to press reports. Citing unnamed Japanese government officials, Bloomberg reported that a six-month study into the viability of shipping uranium via ports near Vladivostok, funded by the Japanese trade ministry, is to be officially announced this month. Most Kazakh uranium destined for Japan is currently shipped via St Petersburg for enrichment overseas before reaching its ultimate destination.