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Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted to include 17 technologies in the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), including nuclear energy. The MEPs led by the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the liberal Renew group, and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) voted 376 in favour, 139 against with 116 abstentions. EU member states will now discuss the issue in the Council of Ministers before it is finalised in December. They are expected to reduce the list.

Date: Friday, 24 November 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newseu-parliament-includes-nuclear-in-net-zero-industry-act-11322086

Scientists at the US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have obtained some initial results from their investigations into cubes of uranium which were part of Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapons programme, the American Chemical Society (ACS) reported on 24 August. Brittany Robertson, a doctoral student who works at PNNL will present the work at ACS Fall 2021 meeting. 

Date: Friday, 27 August 2021
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-scientists-investigate-uranium-cubes-from-nazi-germanys-nuclear-programme-9032569

An experimental method developed by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to determine the age and origin of uranium samples is being used to investigate the provenance of historic material allegedly recovered from Nazi Germany's nuclear programme during World War II. As well as potentially solving the mystery of the 'Heisenberg cubes', these techniques could also be applied to investigations into illicit trafficking of nuclear material.

Date: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/US-scientists-working-to-solve-Heseinberg-cube-mys

USNC has said it hopes to build and operate its first micro modular reactor unit by 2026. Courtesy USNC/NRG. Netherlands-based NRG is to carry out a programme of irradiation tests on Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation’s (USNC) proprietary fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel at the high flux reactor in Petten.

NRG said the aim of the tests is to demonstrate the safety of the fuel for the 20-year lifespan of Seattle-based USNC’s micro modular reactor. NRG said extensive pre- and post-irradiation tests at its hot cell laboratories will be part of the programme.

FCM fuel is a next-generation tristructural-Isotropic (Triso) particle fuel design, replacing the 50-year-old graphite matrix of traditional Triso fuel with silicon carbide, a material that is extremely resistant to radiation and thermal damage.

The SiC matrix in FCM fuel provides a dense, gas-tight barrier, preventing the escape of fission products even if a Triso particle should rupture during operation. The result is a safer nuclear fuel that can withstand higher temperatures and more radiation.

Date: Friday, 25 June 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/nrg-to-begin-irradiation-programme-for-usnc-s-micro-reactor-6-4-2021

Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group (NRG) of the Netherlands will conduct a programme of irradiation tests on Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation's (USNC's) proprietary Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel at the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten. The aim of the tests is to demonstrate the safety of the fuel for the 20-year lifespan of the USNC's Micro Modular Reactor.

Date: Thursday, 24 June 2021
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/USNC-fuel-to-be-qualified-in-Dutch-reactor

Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) has established a new facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, to support the development of its proprietary Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel. Materials developed there will be used in USNC's Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) and other nuclear reactors, including gas-cooled reactors, light water reactors, CANDU reactors and molten salt cooled reactors.

Date: Thursday, 03 September 2020
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/USNC-opens-SMR-fuel-development-laboratory

The Netherlands-based Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) has begun a new study – part of its molten salt technology programme – that aims to simulate what happens when the molten salt cools down to below 150C.

Results of the study will contribute to the safety analysis of molten salt reactors. NRG said last year that the study will include the monitoring of pressure, dose and temperature and that five salts will be investigated, The salt samples will be provided by Czech research centre Řež.

A new experimental facility, called Saga, is designed to be used for testing a range of configurations (or: arrangements) for molten salt reactors.

Unlike most experiments in NRG’s High Flux Reactor at Petten in the Netherlands, irradiation will take place in the spent fuel pool instead of the reactor core. This will make use of the strong gamma field emitted by spent nuclear fuel.

Date: Friday, 20 December 2019
Original article: nucnet.org/news/netherlands-nrg-begins-new-molten-salt-technology-study-12-4-2019

Germany already knows that it will fail to achieve the CO2 emission reduction targets set for 2020, and the gap will be quite significant. That’s why it is postponing the closure of coal-fired power plants and is building Nord Stream 2, writes Józef Sobolewski, director of the Nuclear Energy Department in Poland's Ministry of Energy. [Originally published in Wszystko Co Najważniejsze]

Date: Monday, 17 December 2018
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Viewpoint-There-is-no-Holy-Grail-of-energy

The second and final shipment of high-level waste (HLW) from the UK to Switzerland has been completed. The waste resulted from the reprocessing and recycling of used nuclear fuel from Swiss nuclear power plants at Sellafield.

Date: Monday, 17 October 2016
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/UK-completes-return-of-Swiss-reprocessing-waste

The US is buying 32t of Iranian heavy water to help Iran meet the terms of last July's landmark nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The agreement was signed on 22 April in Vienna between Iran and officials from the six countries that negotiated the nuclear deal - E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the USA plus the European Union). It calls for the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Isotope Program to purchase the heavy water from a subsidiary of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) for about $8.6m, officials said. They said the heavy water will be stored at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee and then resold on the commercial market for research purposes.

Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiran-enters-the-global-market-for-nuclear-materials-4874899