June, 2009

After three years of study, CPS Energy has recommended the expansion of the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear power plant as part of a diversified plan to meet San Antonio's long-term electricity needs.

Delegates and representatives from Central Asian countries have agreed to work together to solve problems relating to radioactive and toxic waste left over from historic uranium mining at a United Nations-led forum.

Paladin Energy is to go ahead with the third stage of an expansion at its Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia. The expansion should be completed by September 2010.

Constellation Energy has received final approval from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) for a proposed new reactor at its existing Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.

The provincial government of Ontario, Canada has stopped work towards building new reactors. Bids from abroad were not up to scratch, it said, and it did not have confidence in the future for AECL.

US utility AmerenUE has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to suspend its review of the combined construction and operating licence application (COLA) for a new plant at the Callaway site in Missouri, a project it put on pause earlier this year.

The US Department of Energy is cancelling the wide-ranging environmental analysis of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) project. Its decision follows a change in government policy on commercial reprocessing.

The USA has moved to cap emissions and trade them down to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. It has detractors, but the bill is a landmark in fighting climate change.

The Beverley Four Mile uranium project in South Australia has nearly doubled its known resources as it approaches start up in seven months.

Employees of the UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change should beware enchantments if they decide to visit the department's London office this weekend: it is being used for filming a scene in the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . Staff have been warned...

Dutch utility Delta has formally launched a process that it says will culminate in an application to build a new nuclear power plant to be in operation by 2018.

The largest power compant in Spain is now controlled by Enel of Italy. With the purchase of a final 25%, Enel now owns 2655 MWe of nuclear capacity in Spain.

Security combat teams from nuclear-related sites and organizations performed well in the 2009 US National SWAT Championships. A team from Canada's Bruce Power won for the second consecutive year.

Nuclear-related cooperation agreements have been reached in Egypt and Nigeria during a tour of four African countries by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. His tour, between 23 and 26 June, also takes in Namibia and Angola.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has said that its member countries have agreed to boost official backing for exports of renewable energy and nuclear power equipment.

Detailed investigations are to be carried out at two French communities as part of a program to dispose of long-lived low-level radioactive wastes.

A new Europe-wide nuclear safety directive has been adopted which sets up a legal framework based on already-acknowledged safety principles. While few changes are expected in practice, the new law should provide assurance for non-nuclear states.

The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA) has said that the planned extension of the operating life of the four-unit Paks nuclear power plant is viable. The four units started up between 1982 and 1987, with designed lifetimes of 30 years each. The plant submitted its preliminary plan to extend their...

Some 12 tonnes of 'surplus' US highly-enriched uranium is to be downblended and stored under a $209 million contract from the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

A new reactor pressure vessel head was shipped from Kobe, Japan bound for Texas today. Meanwhile another is inching its way across California.

America is providing finance for investments of over $2 billion in electric car manufacturing as nations and companies rush to be first with electrified transport. Much of the power for future vehicles is likely to come from nuclear reactors.

Australia-based engineering consultants Worley Parsons has now announced contracts to oversee projects towards Egypt's first nuclear power plant and for a new power plant in Armenia.

Recent days have seen diplomats from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait strengthening their ties with established nuclear power countries as they move towards setting up their own nuclear programs.

Work to build a new reactor at Fuqing, China, has been officially launched - three months ahead of schedule. Construction at various stages is now ongoing for six units at the site.

NRG Energy's lawsuit alleging that Exelon Corporation had no intention of completing its exchange offer for the company has been rejected by a US court.