The German government has reached an agreement with GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH on transferring GNS's interim storage activities. Under legislation that came into force last December, the government assumed responsibility for the intermediate storage and final disposal of the country's radioactive waste.

Lithuanian State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate said today it had issued a permit for the start of commercial operation of the country's new interim used fuel storage facility. The announcement followed State Enterprise Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant's successful completion yesterday of hot tests with ten new design casks. The company has demonstrated it is ready to operate the facility safely, Vatesi said.

As the US Congress begins hearings on proposals to amend 35-year-old legislation on nuclear waste policy, the US Nuclear Energy Institute has called on the administration to facilitate the licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository and private interim storage facilities.

The US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant yesterday received its first shipment of transuranic waste since reopening after almost three years out of action.

The Baden-Württemberg ministry of environment has issued German utility EnBW a permit to decommission and dismantle unit 1 of its Philippsburg nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, dismantling of unit 1 at its Neckarwestheim plant has now officially begun.

The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has published its Business Plan for 1 April 2017 to 30 March 2020. Based on the third edition of NDA's Strategy, published in April 2016, the Business Plan sets out its objectives and expected progress for all 17 of its nuclear sites over the next three years, in line with the funding agreed with the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A joint delegation from the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has held talks with the government of Kyrgyzstan on addressing the environmental legacy of uranium mining in Central Asia. 

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has recommended the government approve the nuclear power industry's latest program for research and development on radioactive waste management. The country's nuclear industry must submit such a program every three years.

A regulatory application was lodged today for a large used fuel storage facility in the US state of New Mexico. With a capacity of 10,000 canisters, Holtec's Hi-Store Consolidated Interim Storage facility could store used fuel from any US nuclear power plant.

Permits to decommission Germany's Biblis nuclear power plant are to be issued to RWE Power following approval of its plans by the ministry of the environment in the state of Hesse. The operation to dismantle the two reactors is expected to take about 15 years.

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry yesterday visited the site of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and discussed the status of the project with Nevada governor Brian Sandoval. Perry said the meeting was the first step in the process of talking to stakeholders following a presidential budget request to restart licensing proceedings for the repository. Sandoval, who opposes the project, said the meeting was not the start of negotiations.

An International Atomic Energy Agency expert team is preparing independent cost estimates to help Tajikistan plan the remediation of uranium legacy sites in the north of the country.