The loading of fuel has started at unit 1 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant, under construction on China's southern island province of Hainan. The reactor is expected to begin operating later this year.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan today signed an agreement to set up a low-enriched uranium fuel 'bank' in Oskemen, Kazakhstan.

Full production has resumed at Honeywell's Metropolis uranium conversion plant in Illinois after a uranium hexafluoride leak earlier this month. The leak was caused by over-pressurization of a system that was undergoing maintenance at the time.

Urenco said yesterday that it is "on track" to complete a major capacity expansion at its Urenco USA site in New Mexico by the end of this year. The uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel cycle services provider has said it is expanding capacity there to 4700 tonnes-separative work units (SWU) per year.

America is reconsidering how it will dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium as the previous plan involving a MOX plant has been said to be twice as costly as a dilution and disposal option in a leaked Department of Energy report.

The UK regulator has given approval for the inactive commissioning process to begin at a dry nuclear fuel store at Sizewell B, the country's first such nuclear fuel storage facility. Construction of the store began in early 2013.

Russia's Mining and Chemical Combine said today that its mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility has completed tests on putting together the first nuclear fuel assemblies for the BN-800 fast neutron reactor. The BN-800 is unit 4 at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in the Sverdlovsk district.

The installation of a protective cover over unit 3 of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan can start as soon as the removal of rubble from the reactor building is completed, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said.

Magnox Limited has announced the completion of fuel removal from unit 1 of the Oldbury nuclear power plant in the UK as well as the retrieval of all fuel element debris from underground vaults at the Bradwell site.

Grants totalling £2.5 million ($3.9 million) have been awarded by the UK government to the National Nuclear Laboratory and the University of Manchester for the development of accident tolerant nuclear fuels.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched a special inspection at Honeywell Metropolis Works in Illinois to assess a uranium hexafluoride leak that occurred during maintenance activities at the uranium conversion facility on 1 August.

The removal of the fuel handling machine from the damaged reactor building of unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant helps clear the way for the transfer of used fuel from the unit's storage pool.