US company Centrus Energy Corp has signed a three-year contract with the Department of Energy to deploy a cascade of centrifuges to demonstrate production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel for advanced reactors.

Demolition of the most visible remaining structures at Oak Ridge's East Tennessee Technology Park - the Centrifuge Complex - has started as employees aim to finish major cleanup work at the site by the end of 2020.

Centrus Energy Corp has completed decontamination and decommissioning of the US Department of Energy’s K-1600 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one year after being awarded the contract to prepare the facility for demolition. K-1600 is one of the last remaining legacy structures on the East Tennessee Technology Park site.

Uranium enrichment company Urenco has today held a ceremony to mark the official opening of its Tails Management Facility at Capenhurst in the UK. The TMF will treat depleted uranium tails, a by-product of the enrichment process, by converting them from uranium hexafluoride into more chemically stable uranium oxide.

Work has begun to demolish the last two buildings that once supported the gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment process at Oak Ridge in Tennessee. Buildings K-131 and K-631 are the most contaminated structures remaining on the 2,200-acre (890 hectare) site.

Australian technology company Silex Systems Limited and Canadian company Cameco Corporation have signed a term sheet on their proposed joint purchase of GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy's share of GLE, the exclusive licensee for SILEX laser uranium enrichment technology.

Enrichment company Urenco USA has announced a new programme covering the production of high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), and is considering the construction of a dedicated HALEU unit at its US uranium enrichment facility.

The return to service of all seven uranium conversion production lines enabled the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management to convert over 5000 tonnes of depleted uranium hexafluoride - more than half its yearly target - to a more stable form within the first three months of fiscal 2019.

The US Department of Energy has announced plans to award a contract to a subsidiary of Centrus Energy Corp to demonstrate the production of high-assay low enriched uranium. The project will see the deployment of a cascade of 16 AC-100M centrifuges at Piketon, Ohio.

China's domestic uranium enrichment centrifuges can now be applied to large-scale commercial use after a demonstration project of China National Nuclear Corporation passed national approval on 19 November.

Centrus Energy Corp has been awarded a USD15 million work authorisation by the US Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning to prepare the K-1600 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for demolition.

Nuclear Fuel Services Inc, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies Inc, has been awarded the largest single downblending contract in its history.