The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal and the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management have both submitted proposals to the government for speeding up the process of selecting a site to host Germany's planned high-level radioactive waste repository.

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have developed a document - referred to as a Key Information File - aimed at maintaining awareness of the final repository for used nuclear fuel in Forsmark for future generations.

Japanese utility Chubu Electric Power Company announced it has removed the upper lid of the pressure vessel of unit 2 at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture as it begins to dismantle the reactor. It becomes the first commercial power reactor in Japan to enter dismantling.

A multi-year project in collaboration with the UK Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), NAC International, Inc, and the University of Sheffield has culminated in the manufacture of a first-of-its-kind disposal canister prototype and elevated Deep Isolation's technology readiness level.

Finnish waste management company Posiva has completed the procedure qualification test on backfill installation at the Onkalo used nuclear fuel repository. During the test, almost 12 metres of tunnel were filled with backfill clay using the backfill installation system.

The new, state-of-the-art, large-scale ventilation system at the USA's repository for the disposal of transuranic waste has now been fully commissioned and is expected to be fully operational later this year.

Finnish radioactive waste management company Posiva announced it has completed a demonstration of the functionality of the used nuclear fuel encapsulation plant at Olkiluoto.

Work has started on the first stage of decommissioning HIFAR, Australia's first nuclear reactor, which shut down in 2007 after nearly 50 years in operation.

South Korea's National Assembly has passed an act that stipulates the construction of interim storage facilities for high-level radioactive waste by 2050 and permanent disposal facilities by 2060.