The UK government has today published a strategy setting out how it will leverage scientific, commercial and international leadership to enable the delivery of fusion energy. It has also launched a consultation seeking views on the regulatory framework for ensuring the safe and effective rollout of fusion energy.

Terrestrial Energy has signed an agreement with Orano for the supply of nuclear fuel for its Integral Molten Salt Reactor. The agreement is part of Terrestrial's multiple-sourcing strategy and follows the announcement last month of a similar partnership with Westinghouse and the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory.

The PRISMAP network was recently launched which will see more than 20 European academic institutions and research centres pooling their knowledge, expertise and infrastructure to speed up the introduction of new medical radioisotopes. The network aims to provide a sustainable source of high-purity grade novel radionuclides for medical research.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority has opened its new nuclear Fusion Technology Facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The facility will develop and test materials and components in the simulated conditions of a fusion power plant.

Radiation from used nuclear fuel could be used to create a valuable fuel additive needed for renewable biodiesel, scientists in Slovenia and the UK have shown. The research highlights that there are "unexplored renewable processes that can be realised using ionising radiation - especially considering used fuel pools as a source of catalytic energy," said the paper, published in Nature Communications Chemistry last week. It was written by scientists from Slovenia's Jožef Stefan Institute and the UK's Lancaster University and Aston University.

Tokamak Energy of the UK announced it has demonstrated a transformative magnet protection technology that improves the commercial viability of fusion power plants, delivering higher performance than alternative magnet systems. It said results from the latest tests validate a revolutionary approach to scaling up high-temperature superconducting magnets, which are highly resilient to plasma disruptions.

Orano's new Centre for Innovation in Extractive Metallurgy (Centre d'Innovation en Métallurgie Extractive, CIME) facility at its Bessines-sur-Gartempe site in the New Aquitaine region of France has been inaugurated by French Prime Minister Jean Castex. The new facility - one of the group's main R&D centres - will host industrial pilot tests for Orano projects under development, in particular for the recycling and recovery of radioactive and non-radioactive materials.

Advanced fuel assemblies have begun an operational trial at Russia's Rostov nuclear power plant. Fuel manufacturer TVEL said if successful they would provide a higher level of performance and safety. "Fuel irradiation in a commercial reactor is an important step for the further commercialisation of this product," said Natalia Nikipelova, president of TVEL, adding: "It is symbolic that this milestone is achieved when TVEL celebrates its 25th anniversary."

Australian welding technology specialist K-TIG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to develop innovative automated fabrication techniques for decommissioning waste containers. Under the MoU, K-TIG will work with the Nuclear AMRC to design, develop and supply the robotic welding cell to be used in the fabrication of the 3-cubic-metre stainless steel boxes to be used to safely store the UK's decommissioning waste.

Tritium stored at Canada's Darlington nuclear power plant will be a source of helium-3 for applications in quantum computing, medicine and security. Laurentis Energy Partners plans to extract and commercialise the isotope from the end of this year.

"There is an old phrase, 'No buying; no dying", Professor James Larkin of the University of Witwatersrand told the World Nuclear Association Annual Symposium in a presentation today. "We are aiming to use nuclear science techniques to devalue rhino horn and bring an end to poaching," he said, explaining the conservation goals of the Rhisotope Project.

An experiment using neutrinos from China's Daya Bay and Ling Ao nuclear power plants has now been fully dismantled, China's Institute of High Energy Physics has announced. It was successful in measuring the interactions between neutrinos more accurately than ever before.