Affiliates of Entergy Corporation and NorthStar Group Services Inc have signed agreements with State of Vermont agencies and other parties on terms for the sale approval of the shut-down Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to NorthStar. The sale will enable the accelerated decommissioning of the single-unit boiling water reactor plant.

Unit 1 of the Edwin I Hatch nuclear power plant in the US state of Georgia has begun operating with test accident-tolerant fuel assemblies. The fuel, loaded during a recent outage, is the first of its kind to be installed in a commercial nuclear reactor.

The co-owners of the Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey have suspended funding for future capital projects at the site after legislation to recognise the attributes of nuclear power plants faced delays in the state Senate. Similar action may be taken at the Hope Creek power plant.

A memorandum of understanding signed by Holtec International and Energoatom envisages the adoption by Ukraine of Holtec's small modular reactor technology with the country becoming a manufacturing hub for SMR-160 reactor components. Separately, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a technical review of an application by Holtec for a consolidated spent fuel interim storage facility proposed for southeastern New Mexico.

Georgia Power has hired 14 operators for Vogtle 3 and 4 from the abandoned VC Summer nuclear project. In its latest report to the Georgia Public Service Commission, the company said this will save nearly two years of training time and costs.

Two New Jersey legislative committees yesterday passed bills that would provide support to nuclear plants facing premature closure. The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee met jointly with the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee to consider Senate Bill 877 and Assembly Bill 2850.

The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has extended its supply of low-enriched uranium for national security needs for at least the next two decades but should clarify its longer term enrichment needs, the US Government Accountability Office has found.

The US House of Representatives - the lower chamber of Congress - has approved two bills related to nuclear energy research and development. The bills - one for a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source and the other for research into the effects of low-dose radiation - will now pass to the Senate before they can be signed into law by the President.

Holtec International and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy are to collaborate on accelerating the commercialisation of Holtec's SMR-160 small modular reactor (SMR). Their cooperation will initially include nuclear fuel development and control rod drive mechanisms.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has overseen a "political risk insurance contract" for the Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. OPIC, the US government's development finance institution, is providing insurance to support the project trust's $250 million fixed-rate bond securities issuance in US capital markets.

Shine Medical Technologies has completed construction and taken occupancy of Building One at its medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. Construction of the main production facility is to begin soon.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company and its joint parties have announced they have accepted the California Public Utilities Commission's ruling on the retirement of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The company intends to withdraw its application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the plant's operating licence.