The Swedish government's decision to approve an expansion of the existing Clab interim repository for used fuel while continuing to consider the application for a final repository has "created uncertainties in the legal procedure for obtaining final decisions on the storage of nuclear fuel," Vattenfall has said. The utility warned the decision has made it more likely that units 2 and 3 of its Forsmark nuclear power plant may have to shut down in 2024 and 2025.

Orano USA has delivered its first TN-LC used fuel cask to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. It will be used to move used fuel between KHNP's nuclear power plant sites as well as internationally.

The loading of spherical fuel elements has begun at the demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plant (HTR-PM) at Shidaowan, in China's Shandong province. The milestone came one day after the issuance of an operating licence for the twin-unit plant, which is scheduled to start operations later this year.

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.

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.

Westinghouse, the UK National Nuclear Laboratory and Terrestrial Energy have announced a partnership in the UK to advance the industrial scale up and commercial supply of enriched uranium fuel for use in Terrestrial's Integral Molten Salt Reactor. An agreement between the three defines the process for delivering IMSR fuel for commercial use, concurrent with schedules for commercial operation of IMSR power plants.

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.

Four first-of-a-kind 3D-printed fuel assembly channel fasteners have been installed and are now under routine operating conditions at unit 2 of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry nuclear power plant in Alabama. The components were produced at the US Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Irradiated lead test rods containing Westinghouse's EnCore advanced fuel technology have arrived at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory where they will undergo a year of testing to support regulatory licensing efforts. The fuel is being developed under the DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an industry-led effort looking to commercialise new fuels within the decade.

China General Nuclear announced today it is taking unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province offline to replace damaged fuel rods. Last month, an increase in the concentration of noble gases in the primary circuit of the EPR was attributed to a few damaged fuel rods.

Recyclable-Fuel Storage Company Ltd (RFS) now expects its interim used fuel storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori prefecture, to begin operating in fiscal year 2023 (ending March 2024). Following several previous delays, the facility - construction of which began in 2010 - had been scheduled to start up later this year. However, the construction of additional safety measures is taking longer than expected.

Spain's Council of Ministers yesterday authorised decommissioning and waste management firm Enresa to launch a tender for a contract for the design, support with licensing, manufacture and supply of a used nuclear fuel storage system for use at the Almaraz, Ascó, Cofrentes and Vandellós II nuclear power plants. The contract will be worth up to EUR220 million (USD260 million).