The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday took delivery of the first shipment of low-enriched uranium at a purpose-built storage facility at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in eastern Kazakhstan. The delivery marks the official start of operation of the IAEA LEU Bank, aimed at providing assurance to countries about the availability of nuclear fuel.

The first containers of used nuclear fuel assemblies removed from the Lepse floating technical base at the Nerpa shipyard have been transported to Murmansk, Russia. The fuel is being removed under a programme managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and will be sent to Mayak for reprocessing.

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency has signed agreements with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organisation to cooperate on decommissioning nuclear facilities and radioactive waste management.

Holtec International's HI-STAR 100MB transport package has been certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company says the cask is "destined to become America's workhorse for transporting used nuclear fuel".

World Nuclear Association was invited to present this week at the opening of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s International Conference on the Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors, Learning from the Past, Enabling the Future. Mikhail Baryshnikov (TENEX) and Cecile Evans (Orano), chair and deputy chair of the Sustainable Used Fuel Management Working Group, share the industry’s message.

The USA and UK have conducted a transfer of some 700 kg of high enriched uranium (HEU) from Dounreay to the USA. The engineering firm, Wood, created specialist facilities for the air shipment.

Germany's PreussenElektra has placed an order for 12 CASTOR used fuel transport and storage casks with GNS Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service. The supplier said the deal was worth "well over" EUR20 million (USD22.6 million).

The last known highly enriched uranium in Nigeria has been repatriated to China, leaving the African country HEU-free.

China has begun the shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel for use in the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 , a Chinese-supplied Miniature Neutron Source Reactor that currently uses high-enriched uranium fuel.

The electrification of transport could potentially offer many opportunities for nuclear generation, Brandon Munro told the World Nuclear Association Symposium 2018 in London today.

Daher has applied for certification for its DN30 package to US regulators, while China Nuclear New Energy Nuclear Industry Engineering Co Ltd's XN740 UF6 transport package has completed a 9 metre drop test.

A Bangladesh-Indian joint venture is to build a new 26.5 kilometre railway link from the Rooppur nuclear power plant to Ishwardi under a contract signed in Dhaka on 10 July. The contract is to be completed within 18 months.