Canadian company Terrestrial Energy has secured CAD$10 million ($7 million) in Series A funding to support its program to bring its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology to industrial markets in the 2020s.

A team led by Battelle Memorial Institute has been selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to drill a 16,000 feet (4880 metre) test borehole into a crystalline basement rock formation in North Dakota as part of studies into the feasibility of using boreholes for nuclear waste disposal.

A prototype fuel assembly for China's CAP1400 pressurized water reactor design has been produced at the Baotou fuel fabrication facility in Inner Mongolia. The fuel's performance will now be verified.

Four Russian institutes have successfully conducted an experiment on the isolation and separation of americium and curium from used nuclear fuel. In a statement today, Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL said this was a crucial development in work aimed at closing the fuel cycle of fast reactors.

US nuclear energy programs, including small modular reactors and the development of new advanced reactors, are to receive $960 million under an appropriations act signed into law by President Barack Obama.

After more than a year of technical preparations and tests, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator has produced its first helium plasma.

A new Centre for Advanced Nuclear Systems at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, is due to be fully operational early next year. The centre will examine the irradiation of reactor materials, which will help in the life extension of the Canadian province's nuclear power units.

Engineers from the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission have received training from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization ahead of the start-up of Jordan's first research reactor.

A power assist suit to help workers following a serious nuclear accident has been jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Japan Atomic Power Company. The device enables workers to lift loads up to 40kg.

(Updated with comment from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) The UK will invest at least £250 million ($377 million) over the next five years in an "ambitious" nuclear research and development program, according to the Conservative Party-led government's Spending Review and Autumn Statement published yesterday. British Chancellor George Osborne's 'Comprehensive Spending Review' says this program will "revive the UK's nuclear expertise" and position the country as "a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies".

The passive cooling system of the proposed Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) has successfully passed simulation verification tests, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has announced. In addition to producing electricity, the advanced reactor design could also be used to produce hydrogen.

The US Administration has underlined its vision of a strong role for nuclear in the country's clean energy strategy. It has announced actions to sustain and finance nuclear energy, including supplements to the Department of Energy's federal loan guarantee solicitation to support nuclear energy projects.