October, 2011

Trial operations are likely to start next year at Taiwan's first interim dry storage facility for used nuclear fuel. ...read more

Kansai Electric Power Company announced that unit 3 of its Ohi nuclear power plant had completed the first part of the two-step stress tests stipulated by the Japanese government. ...read more

Ukraine's EnergoMashSpetsStal (EMSS) - which produces custom-made parts for wind and nuclear power generation units, the steel industry and shipbuilding - is to receive a $79 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) to modernize its entire production complex...

EDF Energy has embarked on the process to gain planning consent for a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C. The company has delivered a Development Consent Order to build and operate a 3260 MWe plant and to construct associated developments at the site to the UK's Infrastructure Planning Commission...

The members of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) have unanimously approved a series of recommendations aimed at making it "more effective, credible, efficient and visible." ...read more

The head of EDF Energy said that, although significant progress has been made, it is too early to say when construction of its new UK reactors is likely to start. Meanwhile, Horizon has completed the purchase of land next to the existing Wylfa plant. ...read more

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) announced on 27 October its decision to renew the operating licence of the Chalk River Laboratory for another five years. The new expiry date is 31 October 2016. Operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Chalk River Laboratory is a national hub...

UK regulators continue to anticipate issuing interim approvals by the end of the year, according to the latest quarterly report on the progress of the UK's Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for the AP1000 and UK EPR reactors. ...read more

The US Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on its proposed withdrawal of 1 million acres of federal lands near the Grand Canyon National Park from hard rock mining claims for 20-years. The BLM said that a withdrawal would...

The US National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) has announced that after almost 50 years of life, 35 of which was spent serving as part of the country's nuclear deterrent, the last B53 nuclear bomb was dismantled on 25 October. Introduced to the stockpile in 1962 before being retired in 1997...

Bulgaria has awarded a multi-million dollar contract to an international consortium for the design of a national low- and intermediate-level waste repository on land adjacent to the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. ...read more

Ur-Energy is almost ready to start construction at the Lost Creek uranium project after being awarded a permit to mine from the state of Wyoming. Meanwhile, Cameco has signed a strategic alliance to advance uranium exploration in Argentina. However the future of Hanlong's bid for Bannerman Resources...

Vladimir Asmolov has been elected as the new president of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The Rosenergoatom deputy director was voted in during WANO's biennial general meeting in Shenzhen, China. He succeeds China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co chairman He Yu in the post, and...

Florida regulators have approved cost recovery amounts for the state's two largest utilities related to the construction of planned nuclear power reactors and uprates of existing reactors. The utilities will be able to collect more than $280 million from customers in 2012. ...read more

The process of loading fuel into the fourth reactor of the second phase of development at the Qinshan nuclear power plant in China's Zhejiang province has been completed. ...read more

Construction of the first EPR unit at the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has reached a major milestone with the dome of the reactor building being lowered into place. ...read more

US uranium conversion company ConverDyn and enrichment company Urenco USA have jointly announced the formation of a new partnership aiming to provide services to help manage stocks of depleted uranium. ...read more

Russia is set to become a member of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) following the signature of a directive by the country's prime minister Vladimir Putin, Interfax reported. The decree directs Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify the agency of the country's intention to join...

After 44 years of operation, unit 1 of the UK's Oldbury nuclear power plant will be permanently shut down in February 2012, ten months earlier than expected, Magnox Ltd announced. ...read more

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) may be considering investing in the completion of two reactors at the Cernavoda plant in Romania. The company has signed a confidentiality agreement with Romania's state-owned Nuclearelectrica to access documentation related to investing in the project...

European scientists studying the geological disposal of high level radioactive waste have concluded that the process is "an effective isolation barrier for tens of thousands to millions of years." ...read more

The initial loading of fuel into the reactor vessel has begun at unit 4 of the Kalinin nuclear power plant in Tver region of Russia. ...read more

The acquisition of a 20-year mining lease for just over $1.5 million has given Toronto-based Energy Fuels sufficient acreage with historical resources for the company to embark on the permitting process for a new uranium/vanadium mine in the Uravan Mineral Belt. The 709-acre (287-hectare) Skidmore Lease...

Taiwan and mainland China have signed a cross-Strait cooperation agreement on nuclear safety and emergency reporting during the seventh round of talks between the two sides in the past three years. The agreement was signed on 20 October in China's northern city of Tianjin by the mainland's Association...

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is to assume management oversight for the project to complete unit 2 at the Watts Bar nuclear power plant from contractor Bechtel. ...read more