Unless the deregulated US electricity markets recognize the carbon-free attributes of nuclear plants, there will be a substantial number of nuclear plant closures in the country, writes Bradley Fewell.

The first reactor coolant pump to be delivered for an AP1000 plant in the USA has arrived at Georgia Power's Vogtle project.

The Clinton nuclear power plant is committed to operate until 31 May 2017 after clearing the regional transmission organization's annual capacity auction, but US utility Exelon Corporation warned that the plant is still potentially facing early retirement.

The Pilgrim nuclear power plant will be refuelled for the final time in 2017 and will cease operations on 31 May 2019, Entergy announced yesterday.

Areva Med's has inaugurated its second lead-212 production facility. The plant - in Plano, Texas - will boost the company's capabilities to develop cancer treatments.

A new building designed to withstand earthquakes and tornadoes has been completed at the Hatch nuclear power plant in Georgia. The dome-shaped building will house portable back-up emergency equipment including generators, pumps and other resources.

The US Nuclear Innovation Alliance has issued a series of recommendations for updating the regulatory process to address an "urgent" need for an advanced reactor licensing process.

The Kazakhstan-United States Energy Partnership Commission yesterday signed a joint statement at a meeting in Kazakhstan that was co-chaired by Kazakh energy minister K A Bosumbayev and US energy secretary Ernest Moniz.

The US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has outlined its strategic plans for reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation and terrorism, including changes to the USA's program to dispose of surplus military plutonium.

The state of Wisconsin has lifted a moratorium that had prevented it from considering applications to build new nuclear power plants. Governor Scott Walker signed Assembly Bill 384 into law at a ceremony held at the Wisconsin Energy Institute on 1 April, lifting the moratorium imposed in 1983.

Some 700 kg of British high-enriched uranium (HEU) will be transported to America in return for a form of the fuel that can be used in research reactors that create isotopes for life-saving diagnosis and treatment.

A way of making zirconium alloys used in the cladding of nuclear assemblies more resistant to hydrogen, which can lead to embrittlement, has been investigated by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.