International

U.S. and Russian arms reductions under the New START treaty led an overall trickling down of deployed nuclear forces in 2017, and North Korea might have anywhere from 10 to 20 nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s latest annual yearbook on nuclear weapons and arms control. Including deployed and nondeployed forces, […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is planning a number of additional test boreholes as it continues to winnow down the number of potential sites for construction of a deep geologic repository for disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel. The nongovernmental nonprofit is within five years of identifying a preferred location for the […]

The Australian government aims to establish 45 additional positions for operation of the nation’s planned National Radioactive Waste Management Facility. The staffing plan comes on top of 15 operational positions already established, the federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science said. “With 45 jobs, the final workforce design and structure will be based on a […]

The Canadian organization charged with disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear reactor fuel this week initiated or refreshed cooperation deal with corresponding organizations from Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The agreements were signed Monday in Toronto at the annual meeting of the International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials, according […]

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is planning a number of additional test boreholes as it continues to winnow down the number of potential sites for construction of a deep geologic repository for disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. The nongovernmental nonprofit is within five years of identifying a preferred location for the facility […]

The United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation said Friday it would prosecute the entity that manages the Sellafield nuclear site for a February 2017 incident in which a worker was contaminated. The office said little about the event, other than it occurred at a facility designated for work with special nuclear materials and led to […]

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is replacing an inner reflector plug at its neutron source with a new one, filled with about 6 metric tons of heavy water purchased from Iran. The Energy Department’s lab Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) produces neutrons for experiments to support scientific disciplines including physics, chemistry, materials science, and […]

Two new contracts worth just over $9 million ($11.7 million CAN) have been issued for radioactive waste cleanup in the municipality of Port Hope, Ontario, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) announced Wednesday. Arcadis, an Amsterdam-based design and consultancy firm that already has one contract for radiological testing in Port Hope, is expected this spring to start […]

The United Kingdom’s pending withdrawal from the European Union, and along with it the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), should not significantly disrupt the nation’s management of radioactive waste, according to the advisory Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). “CoRWM believes that in the context of the safe management of spent fuel and the safe […]

An organization comprised of 82 mayors in the Montreal area last week unanimously issued a resolution of objection to plans for a radioactive waste disposal facility at Chalk River, Ontario. The Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) “is initiating a process to oppose this nuclear dump development project and intends to work with the City of Gatineau […]

While neither the United States nor Russia met a nonbinding target to start disposing of tons of plutonium this year, neither country has actually violated the agreement to get rid of the nuclear material, the U.S. State Department said in a recent report. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), negotiation of which began in […]

While neither the United States nor Russia met a nonbinding target to start disposing of tons of plutonium this year, neither country has actually violated the agreement to get rid of the nuclear material, the U.S. State Department said in a recent report. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA), negotiation of which began in […]

The Australian government on Tuesday issued the outlines of its approach to management of what is expected to be at least 13,500 cubic meters of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The Australian Radioactive Waste Management Framework is intended to “guide the principles, policies and institutional arrangements of radioactive waste management” in the nation, according to […]

The Australian government on Tuesday issued the outlines of its approach to management of what is expected to be at least 13,500 cubic meters of low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The Australian Radioactive Waste Management Framework is intended to “guide the principles, policies and institutional arrangements of radioactive waste management” in the nation, according to […]

The Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission has approved a revised rule aimed at providing additional information about low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) being imported into the state. Among a number of changes to the original proposal, waste disposal providers covered by the rule would now only be required to issue semiannual reports on their […]

Radioactively contaminated soil stored under tarps at three locations in Port Hope, Ontario, will beginning next month be moved into long-term storage, Canada’s Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) announced Wednesday. The low-level radioactive waste is the byproduct of long-retired uranium and radium refining operations in the region near Lake Ontario. The Port Hope Area Initiative […]

Cleanup workers at the former Dounreay fast-reactor site in Scotland are mixing a radioactive liquid with three solids to ensure the material can be placed safely into storage, the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said Monday. The raffinate was the byproduct of reprocessing of fuel from the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay, which shut down […]

Remediation of radioactively contaminated residential properties in the Canadian municipality of Port Hope is expected to begin no later than summer, the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) said Tuesday. The residential project is one part of the much broader PHAI program of remediation and disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Port Hope and nearby Port […]

Remediation of radioactively contaminated residential properties in the Canadian municipality of Port Hope is expected to begin no later than summer, the Port Hope Area Initiative said this week. The property cleanup project is one part of a much broader program of remediation and disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Port Hope and nearby Port […]

A United Kingdom House of Commons committee on Wednesday lashed the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for its handling of a multibillion-pound contract for nuclear-reactor decommissioning that is being canceled early following an expensive legal challenge. An excessively complicated contract process led to selection of the “wrong supplier,” Cavendish Fluor Partnership, and then to a nearly […]

A United Kingdom House of Commons committee on Wednesday lambasted the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for its handling of an expensive contract for nuclear-reactor decommissioning that is being canceled early following an expensive legal challenge. An excessively complicated contract process led to selection of the “wrong bidder,” Cavendish Fluor Partnership, and then to a roughly […]

Veolia Nuclear Solutions has partnered with two Canadian companies to form a new entity that will provide “fresh innovation” for the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Innovation Consortium is a collaboration of Veolia Nuclear Solutions, the nuclear services branch of French waste management company Veolia; Hatch, an engineering firm based in Ontario; and Promation, an Ontario-headquartered […]

The Utah House of Representatives this week passed legislation that would reduce radioactive waste disposal fees paid by EnergySolutions by more than $1.7 million annually. The bill from Rep. John Knotwell (R) would cut the flat fee paid by radioactive waste disposal facilities in the state by the amount they paid in taxes in the […]

A federal judge has ordered a former Department of Energy subcontractor to pay back $4.4 million stolen from the federal government while conducting work for the Savannah River Site MOX project in South Carolina. Aaron Vennefron must pay the money via cash, forfeiture, and any other means needed, according to the order. Former project subcontractors […]

WASHINGTON — About a month after word first leaked that the White House wanted to develop a pair of new low-yield nuclear warheads, Defense Secretary James Mattis this week characterized the proposal as a “bargaining chip” to persuade Russia to freeze what the United States says is a nuclear-capable cruise missile program. In congressional testimony […]

Members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation this week got on board with constituents’ calls for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration to start manufacturing nuclear-warhead cores at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R) say the pit mission — currently entrenched at the Los Alamos National […]

Russia met a Monday deadline to place its count of deployed long-range nuclear delivery systems and warheads below levels prescribed in the keystone New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said this week. The 10-year bilateral treaty, known as New START, went into force in 2011 and required the U.S. and Russia to cap […]

WASHINGTON — About a month after word first leaked that the White House wanted to develop a pair of new low-yield nuclear warheads, Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday characterized the proposal as a “bargaining chip” to persuade Russia to freeze what the United States says is a nuclear-capable cruise missile program. In congressional testimony […]

Russia met a Monday deadline to cut its count of deployed long-range nuclear delivery systems and warheads below levels prescribed in the keystone New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The 10-year bilateral treaty, known as New START, went into force in 2011 and required the U.S. and Russia to […]

The U.S. State Department expected Russia to meet treaty obligations today that limit deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, even as the two powers remain in a standoff over future disarmament negotiations. Today is the deadline for Russia and the United States to meet the strategic nuclear warhead and delivery system numbers […]