Mid-America Conversion Services - a joint venture of Atkins, Westinghouse and Fluor - has received approval from the US Department of Energy to begin operation of its depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities.

There has been much speculation in the press about the policies which will be enacted by the incoming Donald Trump administration - and as well, much speculation about which policies will be truncated or eliminated, writes Will Davis.

Areva Nuclear Materials and NorthStar have formed a new joint venture, Accelerated Decommissioning Partners, to acquire and decommission shut-down US nuclear reactors. The joint venture has already begun the process to acquire nuclear facilities, including their used nuclear fuel.

The premature shutdown of America's nuclear power plants is nothing short of a national catastrophe, writes Jarret Adams.

A bipartisan organization supporting US state legislatures has published a new report providing an overview of state action and policy options for legislators who are interested in preserving nuclear assets in their state.

The US House of Representatives - the lower chamber of the United States Congress - has approved a handful of bipartisan bills from the last session of Congress that aim to bolster research on advanced nuclear reactors, allow for more challenges at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and change rules for federal efficiency standards. The Advanced Nuclear Technology Act of 2017 was passed by voice vote on 23 January.

Rick Perry, nominated to be US Energy Secretary by President-elect Donald Trump, said yesterday he believes "some" climate change is manmade and promised to protect the Department of Energy's (DOE) scientific research activities into the issue. He told a Senate committee he regretted calling for the department's abolition five years ago and said he advocated all energy options for the USA's 21st century energy policy.

Carbon emissions from California's electricity generation are two-and-a-half times higher today than they would have been if the state had kept open nuclear power plants forced to close prematurely and not abandoned plans for new units, according to a new analysis by the Environmental Progress research and policy organization.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has welcomed the acceptance for regulatory review of its early site permit application for the Clinch River site in Tennessee as a milestone towards the potential use of small modular reactors in its operating fleet.

Waste emplacement has resumed at the US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, nearly three years after activities were halted following a waste drum rupture in an underground storage panel at the New Mexico facility.

The first steam generator has been lifted into place at the VC Summer nuclear power plant under construction in South Carolina. It is the first such component to be installed at a Westinghouse AP1000 plant in the USA.

A list of large reactor components supplied to US nuclear power plants by Areva's Creusot Forge in France has been released by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, the regulator said it has no immediate safety concerns regarding the parts supplied to 17 US reactors.