The first stage of Ukraine's Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility is ready for operation, Energoatom has announced, citing an approval from the Architectural and Construction Inspectorate of Ukraine.

Westinghouse, the UK National Nuclear Laboratory and Terrestrial Energy have announced a partnership in the UK to advance the industrial scale up and commercial supply of enriched uranium fuel for use in Terrestrial's Integral Molten Salt Reactor. An agreement between the three defines the process for delivering IMSR fuel for commercial use, concurrent with schedules for commercial operation of IMSR power plants.

Decommissioning of the RBMK reactor at Leningrad 1 has reached a milestone with the removal of all fuel from the reactor core. Rosenergoatom plans to use some of the fuel in the two RBMK reactors which remain in operation at the Leningrad site.

Four first-of-a-kind 3D-printed fuel assembly channel fasteners have been installed and are now under routine operating conditions at unit 2 of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama. The components were produced at the US Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Irradiated lead test rods containing Westinghouse's EnCore advanced fuel technology have arrived at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory where they will undergo a year of testing to support regulatory licensing efforts. The fuel is being developed under the DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an industry-led effort looking to commercialise new fuels within the decade.

China General Nuclear announced today it is taking unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province offline to replace damaged fuel rods. Last month, an increase in the concentration of noble gases in the primary circuit of the EPR was attributed to a few damaged fuel rods.

Recyclable-Fuel Storage Company Ltd (RFS) now expects its interim used fuel storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori prefecture, to begin operating in fiscal year 2023 (ending March 2024). Following several previous delays, the facility - construction of which began in 2010 - had been scheduled to start up later this year. However, the construction of additional safety measures is taking longer than expected.

Spain's Council of Ministers yesterday authorised decommissioning and waste management firm Enresa to launch a tender for a contract for the design, support with licensing, manufacture and supply of a used nuclear fuel storage system for use at the Almaraz, Ascó, Cofrentes and Vandellós II nuclear power plants. The contract will be worth up to EUR220 million (USD260 million).

Unit 4 of the Kola nuclear power plant in Murmansk, Russia has successfully completed the fifth cycle of irradiation using "third generation" RK-3 fuel designed for VVER-440 reactors. During the planned fuel loading, a televisual inspection of the irradiated fuel was performed with the help of specialised equipment, which showed that, after five irradiation cycles, all RK-3 assemblies had retained their original shape and all the fuel rods were sealed.

The decision to take unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province offline to investigate a fuel failure issue lies with the plant operator, EDF said yesterday. However, it said under its own operating procedures for its French units, operation of the EPR would be temporarily halted to carry out such inspections and take corrective measures. It noted the chemical composition of the primary circuit water at Taishan 1 remains within regulatory threshold limits.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a topical report to apply Framatome's suite of Advanced Codes and Methods to operating conditions with uranium-235 enrichments above the industry standard of 5 weight percent. The report is a critical step towards implementing nuclear fuel at higher enrichments and burnups, the company said.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power has today begun loading fuel assemblies into the core of unit 1 at its Shin Hanul nuclear power plant, days after being granted an operating licence for the reactor. The unit - the first of two APR-1400 reactors at the site - is scheduled to enter commercial operation in March 2022 following tests at various power levels to ensure that all systems operate safely as designed.