International

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) maintains that a location near Lake Huron is the best for the company’s planned deep geologic repository (DGR) for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, after considering alternate options as requested by Canada’s top environmental official. The Ontario government-owned corporation announced Tuesday that it has made its case to Canadian Environment and […]

South Carolina has hit the restart button on a multimillion-dollar fine over a missed plutonium disposition deadline at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS). A 2003 agreement between the state and DOE requires the federal government to process 1 metric ton of plutonium at SRS through the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), or remove […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said Tuesday it has won a three-year contract to support disassembly of two reactors at Sweden’s Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant. The work, expected to start in January and wrap up by the end of 2019, involves segmentation of the reactor pressure vessel internals for reactor Units 1 and 2 at the plant […]

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts recently completed a safety evaluation ahead of France’s expected licensing decision in 2018 for the Cigéo deep geological repository, which will house the country’s high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) is leading the €25 billion ($26.1 billion) program to […]

The United States is considered a world leader in matters of climate change, but will lose that position if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign pledges, according to White House science adviser John Holdren. “If the United States were to step back from its leadership position in climate change, China would happily assume […]

The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) last week transferred the first batch of radioactive sludge from the Pile Fuel Storage Pond at the Sellafield site as part of a £100 million ($123.8 million) sludge removal effort.  In its announcement Wednesday, NDA said the sludge was transferred in a 500-liter drum to an encapsulation plant, where it will […]

Japan is calling it quits on the Monju prototype reactor, an experimental, costly, and failed system that officials had hoped would serve a critical role in national nuclear fuel recycling. According to BBC News, the reactor was operational for only 250 days of its 22-year lifespan and cost Japan $9 billion. The Japanese government formally […]

The Carnegie Corporation of New York has issued a call for proposals for research on technological advances that could threaten nuclear stability. “With each major power investing heavily in nuclear and conventional modernization we are at the cusp of a new arms race, one that is especially hard to contain because the drivers of military advantage, from […]

Seventy percent of Canadians believe the nation should quickly shift away from fossil fuels, according to a recent survey of more than 1,800 Canadians conducted by Abacus Data. The survey questioned participants on the results of the recent First Ministers Meeting on climate, during which the premiers from all of Canada’s provinces and territories met […]

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts recently completed a safety evaluation ahead of France’s expected licensing decision in 2018 for the Cigéo deep geological repository, which will house the country’s high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste. The French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) is leading the €25 billion ($26.1 billion) program to build […]

Membership in the Paris Agreement on climate change grew to 118 on Friday after Slovenia ratified the accord. The deal, which establishes a legal framework under which nations are to pursue domestically determined climate actions, entered into force on Nov. 4, just days before the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the […]

In the last seven years, Italy has made significant progress in decarbonizing its economy, the International Energy Agency said Friday in its latest review of the country. “Over the period since the last in-depth review in 2009, Italy has made strong progress in the development and implementation of energy policy,” the review says. The IEA […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency is encouraging member governments to design national plans for the management of radioactive waste, including storage and final disposition. Representatives from more than 60 countries discussed radioactive waste disposal last month in Vienna, Austria, during the IAEA’s International Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. Topics during the five-day […]

A group of 21 prominent South Australians is calling on elected officials to continue developing a controversial concept for burying international nuclear waste in the region’s arid environment. Those signing the open letter issued this week include Adelaide Football Club Chairman Rob Chapman, Coopers Brewery chief Tim Cooper, former Gerard Industries Pty Ltd. Chairman Robert Gerard, […]

The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s total planned expenses are projected to total £3.24 billion ($4 billion) for 2017-18, which is nearly identical to expenses in the prior year, according to the agency’s draft business plan, which was published this week. The government will fund £2.36 billion of those expenses, while income from commercial operators will […]

A new report from the nongovernmental Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) suggests confidence-building and transparency measures to prevent miscalculations between Russia and the West, and thereby reduce nuclear risk, in light of current political tensions and the deteriorating U.S.-Russian relationship. The recommendations in NTI’s Rising Nuclear Dangers: Steps to Reduce Risks in the Euro-Atlantic Region are […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has processed 2 kilograms of plutonium since beginning its program in September to permanently dispose of 6 metric tons of excess non-pit material, according to DOE. The site said Sept. 30 its personnel had begun downblending the material at the site’s K Area Complex. After dilution, […]

Climate change poses significant risks to the world’s business, organizations, and markets, but current financial reporting practices do not adequately address that threat, according to a report Wednesday from the Group of 20 nations Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. “The Task Force developed four widely adoptable recommendations on climate-related financial disclosures that are applicable […]

A new report from the nongovernmental Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) suggests confidence-building and transparency measures to prevent miscalculations between Russia and the West, and thereby reduce nuclear risk, in light of current political tensions and the deteriorating U.S.-Russian relationship. The recommendations in NTI’s Rising Nuclear Dangers: Steps to Reduce Risks in the Euro-Atlantic Region are […]

United Kingdom-based Pale Blue Dot Energy and the Chinese Guangdong Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Center will worked together on carbon capture and storage projects under a memorandum of understanding announced Tuesday. “The agreement provides for the joint evaluation and development of CCS projects in both countries. The MOU also provides for exchange of capability […]

Canada’s top environmental official has once again extended the timeline for an approval decision on Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) plans to build a deep geologic repository for low- and intermediate-level waste near Lake Huron. Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said her office needs more time to “take into account circumstances that are […]

The Paris Agreement on climate change on Monday officially turned 1 year old. One year ago today the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was in overtime it adopted the agreement during the evening of Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. The crowd went wild. A […]

Driven by deep cuts in coal demand in the United States and China, global demand for the carbon-heavy fuel has stalled, the International Energy Agency said in a report Monday. “Coal demand in 2016 will be below 2013 levels, confirming a new trajectory since the meagre growth in 2014 after more than a decade of […]

A group of 21 prominent South Australians are calling on elected officials to continue developing a controversial concept for burying international nuclear waste in the region’s arid environment. Those signing the open letter include Adelaide Football Club Chairman Rob Chapman, Coopers Brewery chief Tim Cooper, former Gerard Industries Pty Ltd. Chairman Robert Gerard, and Cricket […]

A senior National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said Monday that fostering nuclear security relationships between U.S. and Russian technical experts, as was done in the 1990s, would play a significant role in restoring otherwise chilly relations between the two countries. “There is a quality to science-to-science relationships that transcends a lot of the political […]

President-elect Donald Trump will not say in certain terms how he will address U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change, but more and more it seems the writing is on the wall. “Paris, I’m studying.  I do say this — I don’t want that agreement to put us at a competitive disadvantage with […]

Canada’s first ministers on Friday laid out a plan for the nation to reach its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. “This Framework builds on actions of provincial and territorial governments to reduce GHG emissions and identifies actions that will seize the many economic opportunities afforded by clean […]

The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina has processed 2 kilograms of plutonium since beginning its program in September to permanently dispose of 6 metric tons of excess non-pit material, according to DOE. The site said Sept. 30 its personnel had begun downblending the material at the site’s K Area Complex. After dilution, […]

VIENNA — Governments, industry, and international organizations should work together to boost the cyber defense capabilities at nuclear facilities worldwide, according to a report from the nongovernmental Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), released at a Wednesday side event during the International Atomic Energy Agency’s International Conference on Nuclear Security. NTI’s Outpacing Cyber Threats report says traditional cyber defense methods at […]

Vienna – The United States and Russia have not held any discussions about resuming full implementation of the bilateral plutonium elimination agreement that Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended in early October, a senior U.S. State Department official said here Wednesday. Thomas Countryman, acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said in an […]