The total cost to rehabilitate the Ranger project area is likely to be between AUD1.6 billion and AUD2.2 billion (USD1.1 billion-1.6 billion), according to preliminary findings from a reforecasting exercise by Energy Resources of Australia. The work is now expected to be completed between late 2027 and late 2028.

Cameco has requested an extension to state-level environmental approvals for the Yeelirrie project and remains committed to it, the Canadian company said. The government of Western Australia previously set a deadline of 20 January this year for the company to demonstrate "substantial commencement" of the project.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has undertaken a review of safety and security performance at the Opal research reactor, saying its future plans are "very much anchored on high standards."

Vimy Resources Limited has announced the start of mining activities at Mulga Rock, where the excavation of a ramp at the Ambassador North pit is under way. The Government of Western Australia has confirmed "substantial commencement" of the project.

Napandee near Kimba in South Australia has been formally selected as the location of a national low and medium-level radioactive waste facility. Under the relevant legislation, the declaration today by Australia's Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has the effect of the Commonwealth acquiring about 211 hectares of land for the purpose of hosting the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.

Vimy Resources has begun a strategic review process at Mulga Rock in Western Australia after receiving unsolicited approaches from "several parties" interested in becoming involved in the uranium project. Vimy will continue working on its development of the project, where an early works programme is under way, in parallel with the strategic review.

The national secretary of the Australian Workers Union has called for the nation to reconsider its ban on civil nuclear energy and to place small modular reactors at the heart of its decarbonisation plans.

With Australia moving to decarbonise, it is time to seriously consider a role for advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors, the head of the Minerals Council of Australia said today.

The Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has approved Vimy Resources' Mulga Rock Mining Proposal and associated Mine Closure Plan. This means Vimy can now begin "ground disturbing" activities at the project, with a view to first uranium production by 2025.

A new nuclear medicine manufacturing facility will be built in Australia at Lucas Heights, the home of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. A ministerial announcement today launched the project, saying AUD30 million (USD12.8 million) would be spent on the facility's design.

Australian welding technology specialist K-TIG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to develop innovative automated fabrication techniques for decommissioning waste containers. Under the MoU, K-TIG will work with the Nuclear AMRC to design, develop and supply the robotic welding cell to be used in the fabrication of the 3-cubic-metre stainless steel boxes to be used to safely store the UK's decommissioning waste.

Australia is to acquire nuclear submarines as the first initiative under a new enhanced trilateral security partnership announced by the leaders of Australia, the UK and the USA. The submarines are to be built in Australia, but the country is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.