Holtec International and Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance have announced plans for a consolidated interim used nuclear fuel storage facility in south-eastern New Mexico.

As the US administration releases the first instalment of an ongoing program to draw up a roadmap for the country's future energy policy, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is urging the Department of Energy to include the electricity generation portfolio - especially nuclear energy - in its long-term planning.

The radiological event at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico in February 2014 resulted from shortcomings within both contractor and federal processes, the accident investigation board has concluded. The release, it said, was preventable.

Latest reliability and safety indicators for US nuclear power plants continue a pattern of consistently high results dating back more than ten years, according to the US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Meanwhile, an NEI study has shown that Florida's nuclear plants contribute over $1.4 billion per year to the state's economy.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that, between 2013 and 2040, nuclear power's share of total generation in the USA will fall from 19% to 15% in its High Oil and Gas Resource case and to 18% in its High Oil Price case, where higher natural gas prices lead to additional growth in nuclear capacity.

Fabrication of the central solenoid of the Iter fusion project has been started by the USA's General Atomics. The solenoid - due for delivery in 2019 - will be one of the largest superconducting electromagnets ever built.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the proposed transfer of operating licences for the two Susquehanna nuclear reactors as parent company PPL Corporation prepares to spin off its competitive generation business.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has cleared the Perry nuclear power plant in Ohio to begin using GNF2 high performance fuel.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a licence amendment allowing Urenco to expand its Eunice enrichment plant.

NuScale Power has completed fabrication and assembly of a full-scale upper module mock-up of its NuScale small modular reactor.

The contents of a failed waste barrel at the WIPP underground disposal site were "chemically incompatible", said the Department of Energy's technical report today, with a certain brand of cat litter playing a major role in the incident.

A new Department of Energy initiative on radioactive waste disposal could "finally bring some progress the nation's long-neglected nuclear waste management policy," said Marv Fertel, the head of US trade body the Nuclear Energy Institute.