The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the National Decommissioning Centre have signed a three-year collaborative research agreement - the first of its kind between the nuclear and oil and gas decommissioning sectors.

Microsoft Canada is to procure Clean Energy Credits sourced from Ontario Power Generation's carbon-free hydro and nuclear assets as part of Microsoft's efforts to power its datacentres with carbon-free energy. The CEC purchase agreement is a "first" for both companies.

Five Korean organisations have signed agreements on commercialisation of supercritical CO2 power generation technology through which they intend to establish and demonstrate a test facility and infrastructure, and to develop the technology for a supercritical CO2 power generation system for small modular reactor-based power generation.

Argonne National Laboratory has teamed up with Constellation Energy Corp to develop carbon-free power generation technologies, including a project focusing on hydrogen production from nuclear power plants, while Bloom Energy and Excel Energy have announced plans for hydrogen production at a nuclear plant in Minnesota. Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy has opened applications for a USD7 billion programme to create regional clean hydrogen hubs.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has launched a global initiative aimed at boosting the role of new and emerging technologies in the decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

Framatome has completed the installation of the first 3D-printed, stainless steel fuel component at Vattenfall's Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden. In collaboration with German pump and valve manufacturer KSB, the Atrium 11 upper tie plate grids were designed, manufactured, and installed in Forsmark unit 3 for a multi-year irradiation programme.

Workers at the Calcine Retrieval Project at the Idaho National Laboratory site are being trained to operate a light detection and ranging-equipped drone in preparation for mapping the interior of a high-level radioactive waste storage vault.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory have successfully tested a new power system based on a closed-loop Brayton cycle to deliver electricity to the grid. The system could dramatically increase the efficiency of power plants including current and new advanced reactor systems as well as gas-fired and concentrated solar plants.

Elizabeth Muller, CEO and co-founder of Deep Isolation, says that the firm is targeting having a first deep borehole nuclear waste disposal site up and running within "five to ten years".

The first full-scale laser system module developed by Silex Systems Ltd for deployment in Global Laser Enrichment's commercial pilot demonstration facility has successfully completed eight months of testing in Australia. The module will now be shipped to the USA for installation at GLE's facility.

The UK government has announced GBP3.3 million (USD3.8 million) in funding to support the development of advanced nuclear technology. Six projects aimed at developing Advanced Modular Reactors in the UK have been selected to receive funding totalling GBP2.5 million.

Core Power, MIT Energy Initiative and the Idaho National Laboratory have been granted research funds by the US Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy University Program for a three-year study into the development of offshore floating nuclear power generation in the USA.