Thorium fuel is now being tested in the Halden research reactor in Norway. It was loaded in the last week of April, defining the start of a physical test program that will simulate how the thorium fuel operates in a power reactor.

French nuclear company Areva is to work with Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd to bring the Rokkasho-mura recycling plant into commercial operation under a new strategic agreement. Franco-Japanese partnerships have been further strengthened by the signature of a cooperation between Areva and Atox.

China is to reprocess used reactor fuel at a plant supplied by Areva, according to a letter of intent signed in Beijing yesterday. Areva said it was a milestone that represented a signature on part of a contract for sale.

A series of exchanges has seen the UK take control of three tonnes of plutonium it had been storing for foreign firms. The country's goal is to use plutonium stocks as reactor fuel for power generation.

Work on a facility to convert weapons plutonium into reactor fuel is to be slowed down as the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) reconsiders its plutonium disposition strategy.

A mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant under construction at Savannah River as part of the USA's plutonium disposition program is likely to start up three years later than originally planned, the US Government Accountability Office has suggested in published testimony.

Russian leaders have affirmed the strategic and economic importance of nuclear technology to the country, announcing that spending will rise and a major development program will be accelerated.

Nuclear material transporter International Nuclear Services has secured an injunction against further "irresponsible and unsafe actions" by Greenpeace towards its operations.

The move by Hitachi to take on the Horizon Nuclear Power project marks a shift in technology direction for the UK, which had been set to replace older gas-graphite reactors with pressurized water units. Industry said the broadening of scope was "good news for the UK supply chain."

A series of title swaps has seen the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority take ownership of four tonnes of German plutonium. The commercial deal will enhance international nuclear security as well as earning revenue, the UK government says.

Advanced Candu reactor technology and GE-Hitachi's Prism concept have been shortlisted for further investigation to test their credibility as possible alternatives for managing the UK's plutonium stocks.