Tokamak Energy says its engineers have successfully validated electromagnetic current test results of the first of 14 toroidal field limbs in liquid nitrogen at temperatures of -200 degrees Celsius.

An EDF-led consortium has been awarded UK government funding to further develop plans to use heat and electricity from Heysham 2 to create hydrogen for use in the production of asphalt and cement. Earlier this year, a feasibility study demonstrated the significant benefit the project would bring in proving how nuclear could power hydrogen electrolysis.

The number of people employed in the civil nuclear sector in the UK has risen to 77,413, according to the Nuclear Industry Association's annual Jobs Map survey.

Two research projects are to receive funding totalling GBP1 million (USD1.2 million) from UK and Japanese research councils to develop technologies to detect and process radioactive waste. The research will support work to decommission the UK's Sellafield plant and remove radioactive debris from the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.

MoltexFLEX says a reevaluation of certain aspects of its FLEX molten salt reactor design has "yielded a more robust scientific and engineering foundation" for the reactor. A refinement of the reactor design has delivered a 50% boost in power output, while maintaining previous targets for overnight capital cost and cost per MWh.

The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors, as well as a memorandum for collaboration on the next stage of the UK HTGR Demonstration Reactor programme.

The UK's 140-tonne stockpile of civil plutonium could be used as fuel for thermal reactors or combined with the country's 100,000-tonne supply of depleted, natural and low-enriched uranium to fuel new fast reactors - or disposed of as waste in a future geological disposal facility - says a new report from The University of Manchester's Dalton Nuclear Institute exploring the options.

Spot, a robotic quadruped, has completed a trial at the Dounreay site in Scotland, UK, where it successfully navigated an evaporator cell in the Fuel Cycle Area that has been shut off for 25 years.

The UK government has made available a further GBP341 million (USD434 million) of previously allocated funding for development work on the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project in Suffolk, England. It said the extra money will help prepare the site for construction, procuring key components from the project's supply chain, and expanding its workforce.

The UK government has announced it will provide a GBP192 million (USD243 million) loan guarantee to enable UK-headquartered Urenco to supply Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear company, with uranium enrichment services. The UK government also agreed a Memorandum of Understanding committing support to Ukraine's energy sector and green energy future.

The first waste has been removed from the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, one of the oldest waste stores and one of the highest hazard facilities on the UK's Sellafield site.

Tractebel and First Light Fusion have signed a framework agreement for the development of the Machine 4 project designed to demonstrate net energy gain.