International

VIENNA – A top Interpol official said Tuesday that funding for the global police organization’s CBRNE defense operations is a matter of concern given its work in building the capacity of law enforcement agencies worldwide to prevent acts of nuclear or radiological terrorism. Doug Ledingham, acting assistant director of Interpol’s CBRNE subdirectorate – which focuses on the threat […]

VIENNA – The role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the global nuclear security architecture is taking further shape as it inherits the commitments of its member states from the defunct Nuclear Security Summit process and adapts to expectations for a mission expanding beyond its traditional nuclear safeguards and security work. A series […]

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 […]

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 top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday. Thomas Countryman, acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said in an interview with NS&D […]

VIENNA — A top Interpol official said Tuesday that funding for the global police organization’s CBRNE subdirectorate is a matter of concern given its work in building the capacity of international law enforcement to prevent acts of nuclear or radiological terrorism. Doug Ledingham, acting assistant director of Interpol’s CBRNE defense office – which focuses on the threat […]

VIENNA — A senior Russian nonproliferation official on Tuesday emphasized the principle of state sovereignty in nuclear security activities and made a clear distinction between nuclear security and nuclear disarmament. Mikhail Ulyanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, said during the International Atomic Energy’s Agency’s (IAEA) International Conference on […]

VIENNA – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states on Monday adopted a ministerial declaration that reaffirmed the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s role in facilitating international cooperation on nuclear security and recommitted themselves to enhancing their own national regimes for protection of weapon-usable materials. The IAEA is holding its International Conference on Nuclear Security this week to […]

VIENNA – U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said Monday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will monitor the dilution and disposal of 6 metric tons of excess plutonium at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. Moniz announced during the opening ministerial segment of the IAEA’s International Conference on Nuclear Security: Commitments and Actions […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next week hosts its International Conference on Nuclear Security: Commitments and Actions. The event will be held in cooperation with a number of international organizations including Interpol, the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, and the nongovernmental Nuclear Threat Initiative. NS&D Monitor will be reporting on conference proceedings throughout […]

Europe on Tuesday celebrated sealing off the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s destroyed Reactor 4 with a giant metal arch, as authorities look to secure the Ukrainian site in an environmentally stable condition by November 2017. According to Tuesday’s announcement from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which managed funds for the 1.5 billion-euro ($1.6 […]

U.S. lawmakers, Obama administration officials, and international organization leaders made the case Wednesday that the United States would reap technical benefits for its national security if it ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The National Nuclear Security Administration and the State Department hosted an event on Capitol Hill on scientific innovation in nuclear […]

Finnish nuclear waste management company Posiva Oy on Tuesday awarded a 20 million euro ($21.3 million) contract to YIT Construction Ltd. for excavation of the first tunnels for Finland’s final disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel at Eurajoki near Olkiluoto. The Finnish government approved Posiva’s repository site in 2001, and the company submitted its construction application in 2013. […]

The head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) re-emphasized Tuesday that ratification of the global accord banning nuclear explosive tests should be a nonpartisan issue and that continued U.S. funding for the International Monitoring System (IMS) is crucial to keep existing monitoring stations functioning worldwide. Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary of the CTBTO Preparatory […]

Japan lifted a tsunami warning Tuesday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake caused a cooling system to fail for about 90 minutes at the Fukushima-Daini Nuclear Power Plant, bringing back memories of the 2011 disaster in Japan that sent ripples through the global nuclear industry. Plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said on Twitter that […]

The Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant experienced a cooling system failure on Tuesday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake triggered tsunami warnings for the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, according to reports. Several media outlets reported that the cooling system for Fukushima’s reactor 3 went offline just after the earthquake early Tuesday morning, but plant owner Tokyo Electric Power […]

The South Australian government is not moving ahead with a potential plan under which the state could take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, of the Labor Party, issued an official response Tuesday to a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report supporting the proposed facility. In its […]

The 30th session of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty’s Special Verification Commission took place this week in Geneva, Switzerland, according to the U.S. State Department. The meeting, which had not been held since 2003, involved delegations from the United States, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine discussing “questions relating to compliance with the obligations assumed […]

French multinational AREVA agreed on Tuesday to sell its nuclear reactor business to French state-controlled power utility Eléctricité de France SA for 2.5 billion euros ($2.68 billion), as part of a mass restructuring the company announced earlier this year. The overhaul is expected to raise at least 5 billion euros for AREVA and its newly […]

The South Australian government is not moving ahead with a potential plan under which the state could take in about 13 percent of the world’s nuclear waste. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, of the Labor Party, issued an official response Tuesday to a Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission report supporting the proposed facility. In its glowing recommendation in […]

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill on Monday called for a referendum to determine the future of nuclear waste storage in the state. In May, the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission issued a report supporting a proposed facility that could store tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste shipped in from other countries starting in the […]

Lassina Zerbo has been appointed to a second four-year term as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organization. Zerbo assumed his current role in August 2013, having previously served as the director of the organization’s International Data Center. In announcing the news, the Vienna, Austria-based organization highlighted […]

After agreeing last month to delay shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Canada to the Savannah River Site at least until Feb. 17, 2017, the Department of Energy is now asking a federal judge for summary judgment in a lawsuit in which antinuclear organizations are requesting more information on the transfers. The DOE facility, […]

U.K. nuclear company Magnox Ltd. said Monday it has retrieved the first fuel skip from the Oldbury Site’s cooling pond, marking the start of a campaign to clear 60 tons of waste from the pond before draining and decontamination. Located in South Gloucestershire, the Oldbury nuclear power plant operated between 1967 and 2012. Magnox used […]

After agreeing last month to delay shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Canada to the Savannah River Site at least until Feb. 17, 2017, the Department of Energy is now asking a federal judge for a summary judgment in a lawsuit in which multiple antinuclear groups are requesting more information on the transfers. SRS, located […]

The entry into force Friday of the Paris Agreement was a major milestone, but significant challenges remain in implementing the climate change accord, the United Nations’ top climate official said Monday. Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, gave the opening address at the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties […]

Total worldwide financing for managing climate change spiked by nearly 15 percent from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014, according to the latest biennial evaluation from the Standing Committee on Finance of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. “In dollar terms estimated global total climate finance increased from a high bound estimate of USD 650 billion for […]

China by 2020 aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 18 percent from 2015 levels, the nation’s State Council announced last week. The State Council, the Chinese government’s top administrative authority, said in a statement it has established a new plan for a nationwide “low carbon energy revolution.” “By 2020, […]

Lassina Zerbo has been appointed to a second four-year term as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organization. Zerbo assumed his current role in August 2013, having previously served as the director of the organization’s International Data Center. In announcing the news, the Vienna, Austria-based organization highlighted […]

A rush of ratifications last week brought membership in the Paris Agreement on climate change to 100 nations on Friday, the day the accord entered into force. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 4, 13 nations submitted their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession to the United Nations: Benin, Denmark, Estonia Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sao […]

The United Arab Emirates is now home to the Earth’s first commercial carbon capture operation on a steel production facility, the Global CCS Institute announced Monday. The Al Reyadah project in Abu Dhabi is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Coal. Co. (ADNOC) and Masdar, the emirate government’s clean technology and renewable energy […]