The Magnox reprocessing plant at Sellafield will end its operations in July, marking the completion of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) Magnox Operating Programme. The plant, which began operations in 1964, had been scheduled to close in 2020 but disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant the schedule was moved back. The plant …
The construction of a 300 MW nuclear power unit with an innovative lead coolant BREST-OD-300 fast reactor has begun at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine (an enterprise of TVEL Fuel Company of ROSATOM) in Seversk, Russia’s Tomsk region. The event was attended by Tomsk regional governor Sergei Zhvachkin, ROSATOM Director General Alexey Likhachev, …
Honeywell is gearing up to reopen the Metropolis Works plant in Metropolis, Illinois—the U.S.’s sole uranium conversion facility—and restart production of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) by early 2023. The Charlotte, North Carolina–based global technology giant told POWER in a statement on Feb. 9 it has communicated to employees and officials its intent to reopen the facility, which it idled …
China is still actively promoting a nuclear fuel reprocessing project with France’s Orano, formerly called Areva, the head of China’s nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday. France is one of the world’s few civil nuclear powers which reprocesses and reuses part of the spent fuel of its nuclear reactors, rather than treating it as waste. …
Tension has been increasing between the U.S. and Iran. Central to the conflict is uranium enrichment, with each country accusing the other of bad faith. During the turmoil, Iran announced that it had crossed an important threshold: They had enriched uranium past the 4.5% level. But what exactly does that mean? Uranium is the heaviest …
The Trump administration intends to invest $115 million over the next three years to reopen a uranium enrichment plant in southern Ohio. The decision by the U.S. Department of Energy is subject to final approval by federal regulators but could result in 60 new jobs initially, according to an announcement by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. …
A spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, looks set to gain approval for full operation as the country’s regulator completed most of its safety review Friday. The Nuclear Regulation Authority checked remaining safety measures against the risks of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and its members made no objection. Operator Japan Nuclear Fuel …
Japan’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday granted its first approval for a plan to reuse nuclear fuel taken out of decommissioned reactors in operational ones. The decision will allow Kansai Electric Power Co., the operator of the Oi nuclear power plant in central Japan, to load some nuclear fuel assemblies from its scrapped No. 1 and …
French reactor firm Framatome has entered a deal to design, manufacture and supply fuel assemblies made from enriched reprocessed uranium (ERU) to utility firm EDF between 2023 and 2032. Framatome has noted that the collaboration is subject to administrative and regulatory authorisations. The reactor firm is to fabricate the fuel assemblies at its facility in …
Japan’s nuclear regulator has resumed its review of an under-construction nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, following a suspension of 8 months because of a maintenance problem discovered last summer. The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Thursday resumed its review of the plant in Rokkasho Village in Aomori Prefecture. The resumption came after the plant’s operator, Japan Nuclear …