The government of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia has approved the construction of the country's first BN-1200 fast reactor at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant. The unit will be built to replace the existing smaller BN-600 reactor at the plant, which is scheduled to be shut down by 2020.

Russian-supplied fuel for Ukraine's nuclear power plants is to use uranium enriched at the International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) in Siberia, in which Ukraine holds a 10% stake. Armenia has also agreed to take a similar stake in the enrichment facility.

The top representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran's Supreme National Security Council have decided to agree on a structured approach to clarifying possible military dimensions related to Iran's nuclear program, which should lead to inspections of the Parchin site.

The synergies between nuclear safety and security were highlighted at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, where world leaders concluded that the right to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes must not be hampered by measures to strengthen nuclear security.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran has increased production of 20% enriched uranium and has begun been feeding uranium hexafluoride into its Fordow enrichment plant, but says the country is still not cooperating in its quest to provide assurance on the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

A letter from senior US officials signals that the country will continue to seek nuclear trade agreements with conditions on enrichment and reprocessing implemented on a "case-by-case" basis.

Reports in the Iranian media suggest that the underground Fordow uranium enrichment plant is likely to enter service soon - if it hasn't already done so. According to the Tehran Times and Mehr news agency, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) director Fereydoun Abbasi said that the new plant would start operating in the near future in an address given at a university in Bandar Abbas. Meanwhile, Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan reported that uranium hexafluoride gas has already been fed into the new facility. Iran formally told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it was building the Fordow plant in 2009, and subsequently announced that it would be installing advanced centrifuges at the site which would enable it to triple its output of 19.75%-enriched uranium. Iran currently produces uranium enriched to that level at its controversial Natanz plant, but in June 2011 notified the IAEA that it would be transferring its 20% enrichment process to Fordow, near Qom. Iran maintains that the Fordow plant's purpose is to provide fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor.

A businessman has been sentenced to three years in prison for his part in a scheme to illegally export restricted nuclear-related materials and equipment from the USA to Pakistan.

Further energy and financial sanctions are being placed on Iran after more detail was published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on an alleged military nuclear program it said was 'credible'.

A shipment of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) from South Africa's Safari 1 research reactor has been returned to the USA. It is the latest milestone in the reactor's conversion to using low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel.