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All remaining highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's (JAEA's) Japan Materials Testing Reactor Critical Assembly has now been returned to the USA. Japan and the USA have been cooperating for many years to repatriate HEU from Japanese research reactors to the USA.

Date: Saturday, 13 April 2024
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Further-Japanese-research-reactor-free-of-HEU

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has received a shipment of used next-generation light water reactor LWR) fuel from a commercial NPP to support research and testing for the first time in two decades. INL said it had received 25 experimental fuel rods irradiated in the reactor core of a commercial reactor. The fuel rods were developed and manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Company with technical assistance from several US national laboratories, including INL.

Date: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsinl-receives-irradiated-next-generation-fuel-for-testing-11473480

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment services to help establish a reliable domestic supply of fuels using high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Currently, HALEU is not commercially available from US-based suppliers, and boosting domestic supply is seen as vital for the development and deployment of advanced reactors in the US.

Date: Friday, 12 January 2024
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsus-doe-presses-ahead-with-haleu-development-11429515

TerraPower of the USA and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Mitsubishi FBR Systems (MFBR) have agreed to expand their existing memorandum of understanding, signed in January 2022, on the development of sodium-cooled fast reactors.

Date: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/TerraPower-expands-cooperation-with-Japan-on-fast

Asian nation recently reversed policy on post-Fukushima reactor phaseout US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and Japan’s industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura during talks in Washington. Courtesy Twitter/@SecGranholm. The US and Japan have agreed to strengthen cooperation on developing and constructing next-generation advanced reactors, including small modular reactors, “within each country and third countries”.

Japan’s industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm met in Washington to discuss the situation surrounding global energy security, strengthening clean energy cooperation, and the importance of clean energy transitions, including renewable energies and nuclear energy.

They said in a joint statement that in response to the energy impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the US Department of Energy discussed the need for diverse and secure supplies of energy, noting support for investment in the US to improve energy security.

The two governments already announced plans in October to work together on helping Ghana introduce SMR technology. They want to make the African nation a regional SMR hub and deploy a Voygr SMR nuclear power plant developed by US-based NuScale.

Date: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Original article: nucnet.org/news/countries-to-strengthen-nuclear-cooperations-including-small-modular-reactors-1-3-2023

The two countries plan to work together on the development and construction of next-generation advanced reactors including small modular reactors, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said after meeting in Washington DC.

Date: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Japan,-USA-to-cooperate-on-advanced-reactor-develo

Global optimism ‘rising’ about potential of reactors to help achieve net zero emissions Fatih Birol (left) and Rafael Grossi at the International Atomic Energy Agency discussion on nuclear power at Cop27 in Egypt. Courtesy IAEA. Nuclear power is making “a strong comeback”, but the international financial community has so far “failed” to provide the level playing field needed for nuclear to help the world tackle its most pressing challenges, from climate change to sustainable development, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol told the Cop27 United Nations climate conference in in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Birol told an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discussion on nuclear power: “I don’t give them a passing grade.”

“Countries that were saying goodbye to nuclear power, they are rethinking their plans,” Birol said, adding that the IEA had been engaged in talks with both Belgium and Germany.

“We are very happy that both governments are now in the process of postponing their nuclear phaseout plans, understanding the role that nuclear plays in addressing this energy security challenge,” he said.

In addition, another group of countries is now considering extending the lifetime of their existing nuclear power reactors to respond to this challenge, which is one of the cheapest forms of low carbon power, Birol said. Still another group of countries are rolling out plans to build new reactors, including seemingly “surprising” ones such as the Netherlands and Poland as well as Japan and South Korea.

Date: Friday, 11 November 2022
Original article: nucnet.org/news/nuclear-making-strong-comeback-but-financial-community-has-failed-to-provide-level-playing-field-11-4-2022

Japan's last high-enriched uranium (HEU)-fuelled research reactor is to be converted to low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel under a new agreement between the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

Date: Friday, 30 September 2022
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Final-Japanese-research-reactor-to-convert-to-LEU