Iran on 17 April began enriching uranium up to 60%, after previously notifying the International Atomic Energy Agency of its intention to do so. Enrichment to 60% uranium-235 is being carried out in two cascades of IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges at the Natanz facility.

The USA's first production facility for high-assay low-enriched uranium is expected to begin production early next year, Centrus Energy has announced. The facility is under construction at Piketon, Ohio.

The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran has announced plans to install 1000 new IR2M centrifuge machines at the Natanz nuclear site in the next three months, AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told reporters gathered for Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s visit to the Fordow plant yesterday. According to the Fars news agency, Kamalvandi said Iran is enriching uranium using 100% indigenous technology.

Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal and must reverse its latest move towards increased enrichment, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK - the E3 countries - said on 16 January. In response, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency to "avoid mentioning unnecessary details".

A proposed restructuring of GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC has received the final key approval from the US government. The restructure will see Australian research and development company Silex Systems and Canadian company Cameco Corporation increase their holdings in the company to 51% and 49%, respectively.

Iran intends to start enriching uranium at a purity level five times that which it agreed under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. According to Fars news agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said on 1 January: "Based on a new law passed by the Parliament, we are planning to start 20% uranium enrichment at the Fordow facility," adding that the AEOI had written to the International Atomic Energy Agency informing it of this intention.

Actions to mitigate risks to the USA's domestic uranium supply chain could be better planned and coordinated, according to a report published yesterday by the US Government Accountability Office. Improving cost estimates to support future funding requests for the proposed uranium reserve is one of several recommendations by the GAO to improve the strategy to address concerns expressed by domestic uranium industry and support new uranium production.

Iran has begun a new stage of uranium enrichment activities, the country’s permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna said in an interview with IRNA on 22 November. Kazem Gharibabadi said that, during the discussion of Iran at the recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Directors, France, Germany and the UK - the E3 countries - "had expressed regret" over the USA's withdrawal in May 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and the reimposition of economic sanctions against Iran.

A decades-long effort to clean and transform the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant has been completed, marking the first-ever removal of a uranium enrichment complex, the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management has announced. The site in Tennessee has been transformed into a multi-use industrial park.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have confirmed they have signed a final amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation. This extends the agreement through to 2040 and reduces US reliance on uranium from Russia during that time period. It is unchanged from a draft amendment released for public comment on 11 September.

The US Department of Commerce and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom have finalised their agreement to extend the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation, to 2040, Hogan Lovells said yesterday. The Washington DC, USA-based law firm represented enrichment services supplier Urenco USA Inc in its effort to extend the agreement, which has governed trade between the two countries in uranium products since 1992.

TerraPower has announced plans to team with nuclear fuel and services provider Centrus Energy to establish commercial-scale, domestic production capabilities for high-assay, low-enriched uranium. This, it says, will be needed to fuel many next-generation reactor designs, including the recently announced Natrium Power Storage System designed by TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.