A pilot study by Sweden's Studsvik AB shows that all of Norway's metallic uranium research reactor fuel could be processed using its oxidation process in less than two years. Several studies have already recommended chemical treatment of the fuel before it is disposed of in an underground repository.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has completed a three-year project to refuel a Slowpoke-2 nuclear reactor used by the Royal Military College of Canada for professional development and academic research. The project will enable the reactor, which first came online in 1985, to operate for another 30 years.

A new nuclear medicine manufacturing facility will be built in Australia at Lucas Heights, the home of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. A ministerial announcement today launched the project, saying AUD30 million (USD12.8 million) would be spent on the facility's design.

The South African cabinet has approved the construction of the Multipurpose Reactor to succeed the Safari-1 research reactor which is located at Pelindaba. Safari-1's operator, Necsa, said the cabinet approval allows the lead-time needed to ensure radioisotope production is not interrupted. The company has also expressed its support for the recent approval by the country's energy regulator of a ministerial determination to procure new nuclear generation capacity.

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 Reactor Institute Delft at the Delft University of Technology, the operator of the Hoger Onderwijs research reactor in the Netherlands, has prioritised safety during implementation of significant refurbishment and modernisation of the facility, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts. The team also found areas requiring further enhancements, including the organisational structure and safety procedures and documentation.

US nuclear waste disposal company Deep Isolation has been awarded a contract to conduct a borehole feasibility study for ARAO, Slovenia's radioactive waste management organisation. The study will examine whether a deep borehole repository could dispose of used fuel from Slovenia's TRIGA II research reactor at the Josef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana.

The nuclear technology research and development centre Russia is building in the Bolivian city of El Alto will serve as a model not only for Latin America but for the global nuclear industry, Rusatom Overseas President Evgeny Pakermanov said in an interview with World Nuclear News. Rusatom Overseas is a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, which in July announced the start of construction works for a research reactor facility at the CNTRD.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has resumed operation of the High-Temperature Test Reactor in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture. The small prototype reactor becomes the first Japanese gas-cooled reactor to restart following the introduction of new safety regulations.

Russia's Rosatom has launched construction works for a research reactor facility in Bolivia, which is part of a nuclear technology research and development centre in the city of El Alto. A ceremony held yesterday to mark the pouring of first concrete was attended by Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora and Rosatom First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business Kirill Komarov.

Norway's Institute for Energy Technology has signed a contract with Westinghouse subsidiary Springfields Fuels Limited for the transfer of 3 tonnes of un-irradiated research reactor fuel to the UK for processing into new fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants. The uranium fuel would otherwise have been treated as waste, stored and disposed of in Norway.

Work has begun on a major overhaul of a test reactor at the heart of the USA's nuclear energy research infrastructure. This will be the sixth time the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, which began operations in 1967, has undergone the process to enable it to continue its essential function for at least another decade.