November, 2009

Russia's AtomRedMetZoloto (ARMZ) has moved to resolve uncertainty over titles to a Mongolian uranium field by buying out the Canadian company with a rival claim.

Mohamed ElBaradei has completed his final term as IAEA director general and today handed over to Yukiya Amano.

India will have a world-class heavy forging facility for future nuclear power plants after a joint venture by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and Larsen & Toubro.

The situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program grew dramatically more tense after the country reacted to a new resolution by announcing ten new enrichment plants.

Despite ongoing difficulties with its plan for new reactors at Belene, Bulgarian ministers are actively considering new build at an existing site.

The energy brief in the European Commission (EC) could pass to Günter Öttinger if his nomination goes through. The directorates for energy and transport are to be separated in the next commission.

A lot of work still lies ahead for Areva and Westinghouse in their aims to sell new reactors in the UK market, according to the most detailed and critical regulatory report yet.

EDF Energy has started the process to sell off land suitable for a new nuclear power plant at Bradwell - but only "credible" nuclear operators need apply.

Radioactive waste belonging to Sellafield's Japanese customers is packed and ready for its journey home. Due to a waste substitution policy a single shipment amounting to 14 tonnes will complete the job.

The roster of global leaders at the Copenhagen climate talks seems complete now that US and Chinese leaders have announced emissions targets and pledged to attend.

Henri Proglio has been appointed as the new chairman and CEO of French generator Electricité de France (EdF). Sixty-year old Proglio has been chairman and CEO of water and environmental services giant Veolia Environnement since 2003, and a non-executive director of EdF since September 2004. He retains...

Vietnam's plans to build two nuclear power plants continue to inch forward with the approval by the country's National Assembly of a resolution on investment policy for the project.

Two reactors at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania could operate into the 2040s after new operating licenses were granted.

RWE's departure from Bulgaria's new Belene nuclear plant put extra pressure on government to find new shareholders, while it redefines the scope of investment it needs.

The government of Lithuania has said it will go ahead with a tender process to find a strategic investor for its planned new nuclear power plant. A government meeting held on 23 November was told that Lithuania and its regional partners would need to attract a "financially strong" strategic...

The new fifth nuclear reactor at India's Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) has reached first criticality, bringing the total number operating in the country to 18.

An international partnership has been set up to tackle the architectural challenges of design for new nuclear projects.

Refuelling and steam generator replacement was disturbed on 21 November by the sounding of an airborne radiation alarm at Three Mile Island 1. About 150 workers went home early and some were checked for contamination after one of three detectors registered heightened levels of radioactivity. Plant owner...

The Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) of the Netherlands has begun the process to acquire a permit for the construction and operation of the Pallas research reactor, a replacement for the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten.

A UK researcher has won €1 million ($1.5 million) of European Union funding to support his research into fundamental molecular uranium chemistry.

Energy Fuels Resources Corp has submitted the application for the final licence it needs to construct its Pinon Ridge uranium/vanadium mill in Colorado. If approved, Pinon Ridge would be the first new uranium mill to be built in the USA in over a quarter of a century.

[ Agence France Presse, 18 November ] The Happy Ranger cargo ship, which is transporting steam generators from France to Finland for use in the Areva EPR under construction at Olkiluoto, has docked at the Finnish port of Rauma. Also on board were eight Greenpeace protesters who boarded the ship during...

Electricité de France (EdF) has inaugurated new laboratories at the Materials Ageing Institute (MAI) in France, which will examine the link between materials science and power plant component performance and degradation.

Poland's largest power utility, Polska Grupa Energetyczna, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Electricité de France which could see the two companies cooperating in the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

The south western English county of Somerset is engaging with new nuclear build through a consultation and a new training centre, all related to the forthcoming Hinkley Point C.