The US Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will need to rebuild their organisational capabilities in order to restart the suspended licensing process for the Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will be permanently shut down around the end of September 2019 if there are no policy reforms, US utility Exelon announced today. The company had warned last week the plant was at risk of early retirement.

Westinghouse's core business remains strong and the company intends to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy stronger, better and more competitive, interim president and CEO José Gutíerrez said yesterday.

The US nuclear energy industry must work together to strengthen existing relationships and build new coalitions among supporters of nuclear energy's different attributes, according to Nuclear Energy Institute president and CEO Maria Korsnick.

A protective plastic cover has been installed at the US Department of Energy's Hanford site over the roof of a tunnel that partially collapsed earlier this month. The cover will provide additional protection while longer-term risk mitigation measures are developed and implemented at the site in Washington State.

Nuclear power plants are key national assets and are vital to the USA's security and economic prosperity, according to a newly issued position statement from the American Nuclear Society. The organisation has called for policies, laws, market reforms and governmental support to ensure the continued operation of the country's existing nuclear fleet.

The Ohio Senate yesterday held its first hearing on legislation supporting the continued operation of the state's nuclear power plants, while a House committee suspended its own hearings on the same legislation. Meanwhile, business and community leaders, conservationists and scientists have written to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos calling for nuclear to be included in the company's definition of "renewables" to help keep Ohio's nuclear power plants operating.

Canada's General Fusion is collaborating with US computing giant Microsoft to analyse its fusion energy experimental results using cloud-based big data techniques. This, the company says, will enable it to explore experimental plasma data in greater depth than previously possible.

Georgia Power's interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse has been extended until 3 June, after which Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power will take over project management for the Vogtle AP1000 nuclear power plant construction project under a new service agreement.

The USA's NuScale Power has commissioned a second small modular reactor control room simulator to model the operation of its nuclear power plant design. The Portland, Oregon-headquartered company said yesterday the new simulator will be used to develop plant operating procedures and training material as well as a training platform for future nuclear plant operators at a NuScale power plant.

The collapse of a section of tunnel in which contaminated materials are stored led to an emergency being declared yesterday at the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington State. No contamination has been detected following the cave-in.

Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) has entered a definitive share purchase agreement with Pacific Road Resources Funds to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Reno Creek Holdings. The agreement allows UEC to buy 100% of Pacific Road's fully permitted Reno Creek in-situ leach project in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Pacific Road, a mining private equity firm, will own about 9% of UEC's common shares at closing of the transaction.