France's Orano said it has signed contracts with German utilities EnBW, PreussenElektra, RWE and Vattenfall for the return of all the German nuclear waste remaining at its La Hague reprocessing plant. The entry into force of the contracts - worth in total more than EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion) - is subject to the formal agreement of the German and French governments.

A group of six students recently spent nine days living in the Grimsel underground research laboratory in Switzerland in a simulated mission to the Moon. During the mission, the "astronauts" taking part in the Asclepios I project undertook several scientific experiments, the results of which could be applied to future actual space missions.

A major project to build a new ventilation system at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, USA has passed a milestone with the completion of the foundations for one of two major buildings for the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System. The 55,000 square feet (5100 square metre) New Filter Building will house the high-efficiency particulate air filter units that will clean air extracted from the WIPP underground.

The first stage of Ukraine's Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility is ready for operation, Energoatom has announced, citing an approval from the Architectural and Construction Inspectorate of Ukraine.

A government decision on Sweden's final waste repository will be delayed by the launch of a public consultation on whether the application for the repository should be considered separately from that for an expansion of the existing Clab interim repository used fuel, Finnish nuclear operator Fortum has said. A government decision, it warned, is needed before the end of this month in order to avoid future disruptions to electricity supply due to a lack of interim used fuel storage capacity.

Uranium enrichment services provider Urenco has approved the progression of the Urenco Metals Recycling facility project based at its Urenco Nuclear Stewardship subsidiary in Capenhurst, UK. The project will now move into the design phase. The facility, planned to begin operation in 2024, will provide a wide range of metallic treatment services for recycling and disposal.

Core components of Sweden's Ringhals units 1 and 2 will be cut up and disposed of by Westinghouse, starting as early as April 2023, plant owner Vattenfall has announced. A contract announced today covers the reactor pressure vessels, internals and fuel racks. The companies described the deal as "extending their long-standing nuclear energy partnership into decommissioning activities."

A legacy radioactive source from a US Department of Energy waste inventory is now being reused more than 40 years after it was put into storage. The collaborative effort to prepare and transport the small neutron-emitting, plutonium-beryllium source from Idaho National Laboratory to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory takes the 'reduce, reuse and recycle' concept to the next level, the Department's Office of Environmental Management said.

Electron beam technology is being used to treat medical wastewater in China for the first time. It is safer and cleaner than traditional methods as well as more effective at removing organic molecules such as viruses and antibiotics, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

Decommissioning of the RBMK reactor at Leningrad 1 has reached a milestone with the removal of all fuel from the reactor core. Rosenergoatom plans to use some of the fuel in the two RBMK reactors which remain in operation at the Leningrad site.

Cavendish Nuclear has been awarded a contract by Magnox Limited to supply the Concrete Box Loading Facility at the decommissioned Hinkley Point A nuclear power plant in the UK. The facility will be used to process and package solid intermediate-level radioactive waste.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited has awarded two contracts worth a combined GBP11.2 million (USD15.9 million) to USA-based engineering group Jacobs for decommissioning work at the Dounreay site in Scotland. Under the contracts, Jacobs will upgrade the ventilation system at the Prototype Fast Reactor and develop the decommissioning strategy for the fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant in the Fuel Cycle Area.