NuScale Power has asked the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve the company's small modular reactor commercial power plant design. This is the first-ever SMR design certification application to be submitted to the NRC.

Toshiba Corp may have to write off "several billion" dollars because of Westinghouse Electric Company's purchase a year ago of CB&I Stone & Webster (S&W) - a US construction firm that specializes in nuclear power projects. In a statement yesterday, the Japanese electronics conglomerate said it needs to "determine the value" of the possible Westinghouse loss and the impact on Toshiba's financial forecast for 2016 announced last month.

Russia has suspended its 2000 agreement with the USA to reduce their surplus weapons-grade plutonium.  The suspension was made via a presidential decree issued yesterday 'on the management and disposition of plutonium designated as no longer required for defence purposes and related cooperation in this area and the protocols to this agreement'.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its final safety evaluation report for combined licences for two proposed nuclear power units at the William States Lee III site.

Pacific Gas & Electric has outlined plans to close its twin-unit Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, reflecting the US state's "changing energy landscape". PG&E yesterday announced a 'joint proposal' with labour and leading environmental organizations that would increase investment in energy efficiency, renewables and storage beyond current state mandates while phasing out PG&E's production of nuclear power in California.

Developers of new nuclear power plants can draw on the experience of other large-scale infrastructure projects to help identify and reduce financing risks, a senior corporate banker told delegates at a recent conference.

KazAtomProm and ConverDyn have signed an agreement whereby the world's largest uranium producer and the "leading provider" of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion services will jointly and immediately offer uranium in the form of natural UF6 to global utilities. UF6 is the natural uranium feedstock for the enrichment step in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Lightbridge Corporation has entered into a Joint Development Agreement with Areva NP to assess establishing a joint venture this year for the development, manufacture and commercialization of fuel assemblies based on Lightbridge's "next generation" metallic nuclear fuel technology.

The US Department of Energy has agreed to grant a permit to support a small modular reactor project within the boundary of its Idaho National Laboratory site. In a statement yesterday, the DOE said its newly signed agreement with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems builds on President Barack Obama's plan "to advance America's leadership in clean energy innovation".

US President Barack Obama wants to scrap the Department of Energy's project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina that was designed to take plutonium no longer needed for nuclear weapons and turn it into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.

Peninsula Energy Ltd has announced first delivery of uranium under its wholly owned subsidiary Strata Energy Inc's 2011 sale and purchase agreement with an unnamed US utility. In-situ uranium recovery operations began from the Ross Permit Area of the Lance Projects in Wyoming, USA on 2 December.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has awarded GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) a contract worth more than $70 million to provide outage services for units 1, 2 and 3 of the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant.