Separate domestic and international initiatives to support the development and production of medical radioisotopes have been announced in Canada, Germany, Japan and the USA. These include a federal award of USD35 million to support the commercial production of molybdenum-99 in the USA; a new linear accelerator-based technique for production of actinium-225 in Japan; and a Canadian-German collaboration to explore the production of Ac-225.

Mining of the eighth panel at the US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has been completed, seven years after work began. Emplacement of transuranic waste in the newly mined panel is expected to begin in April 2022.

The continued operation of Dominion's Millstone nuclear power plant beyond 2029 is a critical factor in how much more and how quickly Connecticut needs to procure new clean energy additions, the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has told policymakers in the state's newly released 2020 Integrated Resources Plan.

A project to demonstrate the production of clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona is to receive USD20 million in federal funding as part of US Department of Energy efforts to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen to USD1 per kilogram. The announcement comes as DOE marks Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day.

US company Kairos Power has submitted the preliminary safety analysis report for its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of its application for a construction permit for the Hermes low-power demonstration reactor, which is to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Exelon Generation has announced plans for more than USD300 million-worth of capital projects at its Byron and Dresden plants, and hiring 650 employees, following the state of Illinois's passage of clean energy legislation. Separately, the company has today announced the senior leadership of the two businesses that will result from the separation of its regulated utility and competitive energy businesses. The regulated business is to be called Exelon and the competitive business Constellation.

Congress needs to take action to break the impasse over a permanent solution for commercial used nuclear fuel, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office. The report identifies four matters for congressional consideration - including amending legislation to authorise a new consent-based siting process and restructuring the Nuclear Waste Fund - and recommends that the Department of Energy finalise its consent-based siting process.

Westinghouse Electric Company and Ukrainian company NT-Engineering LLC have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to implement maintenance optimisation and system repair projects for VVER reactors. They said the work will increase the safety levels and performance of Ukrainian VVERs, improving annual power output and reducing operational costs.

The US Department of Defense, acting through the Strategic Capabilities Office and with the Department of Energy as a cooperating agency, has released a draft environmental impact statement for the construction and demonstration phase of a prototype mobile microreactor. A public comment period on the draft EIS will begin on 24 September.

Canadian companies Cameco and X-energy have entered a non-binding and non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding to explore possible areas of cooperation to support the potential future deployment, fuelling and servicing of Xe-100 small modular reactors in Canada and the USA.

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.

Exelon Generation Company has formally reversed its decision to retire the Byron and Dresden nuclear plants after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law the state's new energy legislation package yesterday. The final version of the bill was passed by the Illinois Senate earlier this week.