Westinghouse has been awarded a USD103 million contract by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the decommissioning, dismantling and disposal of the SM-1A reactor in Alaska.

Ansaldo Nuclear has been awarded a contract for the installation of key connections between existing and new facilities at the Sellafield site in Cumbria, England. It is the first contract awarded under Sellafield Ltd's Programme and Project Partners new goods and services agreement.

EDF Energy announced the Hinkley Point B 1 reactor has been permanently shut down bringing an end to electricity generation at the Hinkley Point B plant in Somerset, England, after 46 years of operation. The Hinkley Point B 2 reactor was shut down on 6 July.

The two VVER-440 V-230 reactors in Slovakia were decommissioned and disassembled on site, the first time this has happened for reactors of this type, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said.

Westinghouse Electric Company has been awarded an engineering contract by Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning to plan the decommissioning of the country's two nuclear research reactors, located in Halden and Kjeller. The three-year agreement includes options up to six years and is valued up to NOK1 billion (USD99 million).

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants can take many years and involve complex safety and storage issues. But one firm is doing its best to minimise waste by cleaning up old kit and selling the 'pre-loved' items at auctions.

With fuel removal proceeding on schedule at the Mühleberg nuclear power plant, Swiss utility BKW has submitted an application for the second of three decommissioning phases of the plant. Mühleberg is the first nuclear power plant in Switzerland to be decommissioned.

The first container holding used fuel from the Garoña nuclear power plant in Spain has been placed in the on-site interim dry storage facility. Removal of all the used fuel from the plant's storage pool must be completed before decommissioning work begins.

A joint venture between Jacobs UK Limited and Multiconsult Norge AS has been selected by Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning to plan the decommissioning of Norway's nuclear facilities. The joint venture was ranked highest in competitive bidding and will have first option to carry out work.

Holtec International has completed the acquisition of the Palisades nuclear power plant and the Big Rock Point site from Entergy. The decommissioning timeline for Palisades is 19 years, with small modular reactors one option for future uses of the two sites.

The demolition of the last remaining large building, the turbine building, at the shut down José Cabrera (Zorita) nuclear power plant has been completed, says Spanish decommissioning and waste management firm Enresa.

Work has begun on a protective enclosure for a former reactor on the US Department of Energy's Hanford site in Washington State. The K East Reactor is the seventh at the site to be placed in interim safe storage.