International

Twenty-eight canisters of vitrified highly active waste arrived in Cherbourg, France, on Monday as the shipment makes its way from the U.K. to Switzerland, French nuclear specialist AREVA announced Wednesday. The waste is the byproduct of reprocessing and recycling activity at the U.K.’s Sellafield site, where fuel from Swiss nuclear reactors was sent. The shipment falls […]

Veteran U.S. foreign service officer Thomas Countryman on Sunday took over as the State Department’s acting undersecretary for arms control and international security. Countryman replaces Rose Gottemoeller, who left Foggy Bottom to become deputy secretary general at NATO. Countryman will remain assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, his position for the last five […]

Speaking just days after the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change was triggered, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa called for nations to work quickly to implement that accord. “We stand at a moment unlike any other in our collective history and the next few […]

The Russian government on Wednesday suspended agreements for cooperation with the United States on nuclear- and energy-related scientific research and development and the conversion of Russian research reactors from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium fuel. The move follows the Kremlin’s withdrawal from a bilateral plutonium disposition agreement earlier this week. The R&D agreement, signed in September […]

The United States and Russia largely continue to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons in line with the mandates of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), with the exception of an increase in Russia’s deployed strategic warheads, according to the latest aggregate data released over the weekend on treaty activity. The bilateral […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday it has completed deployment of 27 radiation detection systems across Bulgaria, thereby completing the nation’s nuclear detection architecture. These efforts, conducted through the NNSA’s Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) program, are intended to help prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials. Anne Harrington, NNSA deputy administrator for defense nuclear […]

The Paris Agreement will enter into force days before the next Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a stunning achievement that may leave those involved in the COP scrambling. To start, some leftover measures for implementing the climate change accord are now on the agenda for […]

Just 10 months after nearly 200 nations adopted the accord, entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change has been triggered. A total of 11 new parties Wednesday ratified the agreement, bringing the count to 74 nations representing a total of 58.82 percent of global emissions. That surpasses the 55/55 threshold required to […]

The Russian government suspended Wednesday an agreement on cooperation with the United States on nuclear- and energy-related scientific research and development. The move follows the Kremlin’s withdrawal from another bilateral nuclear security agreement earlier this week. The R&D agreement, signed in September 2013 on the margins of the International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference in Vienna, Austria, […]

The incoming executive director of the Green Climate Fund, who has yet to be selected, will inherit an organization primed to be significant player in effort to battle climate change, the Center for American Progress said in a report Monday. “The next executive director of the GCF will inherit the fund at a time when […]

Representing .22 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, New Zealand on Tuesday became the 63rd nation to formally join the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced. The Paris Agreement, the first global climate change accord, will enter into force 30 days after 55 nations representing at least 55 percent […]

A senior Russian official said Tuesday the United States failed to hold up its end of a bilateral nonproliferation agreement that President Vladimir Putin suspended Monday by not consulting with Russia of its plan to change its plutonium disposition approach. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement requires each nation to eliminate 34 metric tons of plutonium, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Tuesday it has completed deployment of 27 radiation detection systems across Bulgaria, thereby completing the nation’s nuclear detection architecture. These efforts, conducted through the NNSA’s Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) programs, are intended to help prevent the smuggling of radioactive materials. Anne Harrington, NNSA deputy administrator for defense nuclear […]

The European Parliament voted Tuesday to approve ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change, signaling the accord’s entry into force will be triggered in a matter of days. “Today the European Union turned climate ambition into climate action. The Paris Agreement is the first of its kind and it would not have been possible […]

Canadian provinces have until 2018 to adopt a carbon pricing mechanism, be it a carbon tax or carbon market, or the national government will do it for them, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday morning. “If neither price nor cap-and-trade is in place by 2018, the government of Canada will […]

India, the world’s No. 3 greenhouse gas emitter, joined the Paris Agreement on climate change Sunday, another major step that could mean the accord will trigger entry into force in a matter of days. “The country is embarking on a sustainable development pathway. Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi calls it ‘development without destruction,’” United Nations Deputy […]

The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority released a report Friday laying out 17 options for improving management of the United Kingdom’s so-called problematic radioactive waste. Problematic wastes are defined as those that are unsuitable for existing processing facilities. The materials include: intermediate-level waste; radium/thorium-contaminated waste; bulk fines/particulates; reactive metals; and some 30 other materials. Some of these […]

Obama administration officials on Tuesday doubled down on their opposition to international efforts to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban through the United Nations. Anita Friedt, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that pursuit of a nuclear weapons […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, alongside Poland, Russia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repatriated 61 kilograms of Russian-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Poland, making the country the 31st plus Taiwan to become HEU-free, the Department of Energy announced Monday. The two-day operation followed 10 years of cooperation to remove over 700 kilograms of […]

Following the United Nations Security Council’s adoption on Sept. 23 of a resolution encouraging nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Republicans lambasted what Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called a “toothless resolution” while Democrats lauded its passage as key in reaffirming global norms against nuclear testing. The nonbinding resolution, adopted in a 14-0 […]

Breaking from the “best practice” of joint ratification of international treaties, European Union environmental ministers Friday approved the early ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The EU ratification has been a bit of a sticky wicket in the effort to bring the agreement into force, as under the bloc’s usual practice member states […]

Developing Asia will need to spend an additional $300 billion per year on clean-energy infrastructure through 2050 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Asian Development Bank said in a report Tuesday. However, the report finds, the region has more to gain. “This is a substantial sum but the economic […]

The Paris Agreement on climate change will soon enter into force, with or without the ratification by the European Union, European environmental group Bellona said Tuesday. However, it is vital for the EU to ratify the agreement if it wants to be an environmental leader, the organization added in a press release: “[F]ailure to rapidly […]

Jim Yong Kim has been unanimously appointed to his second five-year term as president of the World Bank Group. “Executive Directors cited the achievements of Bank Group staff and management during Dr. Kim’s first four years in office, and recognized his leadership and vision. Chairs acknowledged several accomplishments the institution has achieved during this time […]

Obama administration officials on Tuesday doubled down on their opposition to international efforts to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban through the United Nations. Anita Friedt, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that pursuit of a nuclear weapons […]

AREVA said Monday it  has won a multimillion-dollar contract to design and manufacture 30 used fuel transportation and dry storage casks for Belgian nuclear power reactors Doel 3 and 4 and Tihange 1, 2, and 3. AREVA signed the contract with Synatom, a subsidiary of French group Engie. The contract is worth “several millions of euros,” […]

Mali on Friday became the 61st party to formally join the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced Monday. The Paris Agreement, the first global climate change accord, will enter into force 30 days after 55 nations representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration, alongside Poland, Russia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repatriated 61 kilograms of Russian-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Poland, making the country the 31st plus Taiwan to become HEU-free, the Department of Energy announced Monday. The two-day operation followed 10  years of cooperation to remove over 700 kilograms of […]

Amec Wheeler Foster said Monday it has won a £7 million ($9 million) contract to design and build a new effluent treatment plant at Scotland’s shuttered Dounreay nuclear facility. Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd. (DSRL), which is leading the decommissioning of the fast reactor research site in Caithness, awarded the contract. The treatment plant will serve […]

Three of six 12.4-ton stainless steel doors — which will serve as access points for waste retrievals at the Sellafield nuclear site’s Pile Fuel Cladding Silo – have arrived, the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said Monday. The third door arrived recently, according to the announcement, and all six silo doors are scheduled for installation by […]