Radiation from used nuclear fuel could be used to create a valuable fuel additive needed for renewable biodiesel, scientists in Slovenia and the UK have shown. The research highlights that there are "unexplored renewable processes that can be realised using ionising radiation - especially considering used fuel pools as a source of catalytic energy," said the paper, published in Nature Communications Chemistry last week. It was written by scientists from Slovenia's Jožef Stefan Institute and the UK's Lancaster University and Aston University.

Congress needs to take action to break the impasse over a permanent solution for commercial used nuclear fuel, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office. The report identifies four matters for congressional consideration - including amending legislation to authorise a new consent-based siting process and restructuring the Nuclear Waste Fund - and recommends that the Department of Energy finalise its consent-based siting process.

The former salt mine in Gorleben, Lower Saxony - previously considered a possible site for geological disposal of Germany's high-level radioactive waste - has officially closed, it was announced on 17 September. The site was excluded from a list of potential repository sites published last year by waste management organisation Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung.

Australian welding technology specialist K-TIG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to develop innovative automated fabrication techniques for decommissioning waste containers. Under the MoU, K-TIG will work with the Nuclear AMRC to design, develop and supply the robotic welding cell to be used in the fabrication of the 3-cubic-metre stainless steel boxes to be used to safely store the UK's decommissioning waste.

Recycled REMIX nuclear fuel has passed a five-year operational test in Russia and is ready for pilot operation, Rosatom fuel subsidiary TVEL has said. REMIX is designed to reduce uranium consumption and close the fuel cycle using mainstream light-water reactors.

Spain's nuclear power generating industry will not be able to continue operating if a draft law approved on 14 September by the Council of Ministers is enacted, according to the country's nuclear industry forum Foronuclear. The law, together with other proposed measures, would impose an "excessive tax burden" on the industry, which Foronuclear says would make the continued operation of nuclear power plants economically unfeasible. Under Spain's nuclear phase-out policy, its nuclear fleet is scheduled to shut down by 2035.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a licence to Interim Storage Partners LLC to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel in Andrews, Texas. Interim Storage Partners is a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists LLC and Orano USA.

The former Centrifuge Complex site at Oak Ridge in Tennessee is now ready for industrial development. The complex was one of the final collections of buildings to be demolished last year as workers completed the first-ever cleanup of a former uranium enrichment complex. The footprint of the former facility is earmarked for the construction of a proposed regional airport at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

Processing radioactive waste or used fuel from other countries has been banned in Slovakia, after a parliamentary resolution yesterday. The move will force the closure of a business unit of JAVYS, potentially leading to job losses once ongoing work is completed.

The opening plenary session of Italy's National Seminar, which aims at deepening the analysis of the technical aspects related to the national repository for radioactive waste and technological park project with all interested parties, was held yesterday. The National Seminar, a series of consultative meetings, follows the publication in January of a list of 67 potential sites for a radioactive waste storage facility.

An experiment using neutrinos from China's Daya Bay and Ling Ao nuclear power plants has now been fully dismantled, China's Institute of High Energy Physics has announced. It was successful in measuring the interactions between neutrinos more accurately than ever before.

The US Department of Energy and Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance a cooperative project to eliminate all of Norway’s highly enriched uranium by downblending it to low-enriched uranium. The MoU calls for downblending activities to begin in 2022 using Norway's existing infrastructure, followed by the eventual deployment of the DOE's Mobile Melt-Consolidate system.