Yucca Mountain 615x160

Immediate action needed on US waste policy

27 January 2012

After nearly two years of work, the Blue Ribbon Commission has issued its final recommendations for "creating a safe, long-term solution" for dealing with the USA's used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Efforts to develop a waste repository and a central storage facility should start immediately, it says.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future was set up in early 2010 following President Barack Obama's decision to halt work on a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Having released a draft report of its recommendations at the end of July 2011, the commission has now submitted its final report to US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

Areva's ups and downs

27 January 2012

A turbulent year for Areva has seen a new CEO, dramatic currency fluctuations and sales impacts from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident but an increase in order backlog and only a fairly minor downturn in overall revenue. 

Virtual reality for UK research centre

26 January 2012

NAMRC virtual reality (Virtalis)Two virtual reality systems have been installed at the UK's new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield to help in the design and manufacture of large components for nuclear power plants.

Romanian plant gets containment filtering system

26 January 2012

Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin has won a contract to install reactor containment filtration systems at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania. SNC-Lavalin has in turn contracted Areva to supply the equipment.

Poll: New nuclear power 'best for Britain'

27 January 2012

The results of a nationwide poll show that Britons believe new nuclear power plants would be the best infrastructure investment the country could make. 

TVEL plans to grow and diversify

26 January 2012

Young Physicist (Olga Maltsev - TVEL) 64x48A new corporate strategy for Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL aims to more than double nuclear revenue by 2030, while adding a new energy storage business.

US energy demand to outstrip nuclear growth

25 January 2012

While US nuclear generating capacity is expected to grow by 11% by 2035, its share of the country's total electricity output will drop slightly, according to a forecast by the US Energy Information Administration. Coal use will fall significantly during this period, with gas seeing the highest growth.

Industry Talk

Nuclear Science Week in the USA

Recognising the contribution of nuclear science and all who work in the field, the USA is celebrating National Nuclear Science Week from 24-28 January.

Canadian subsidiary for Westinghouse

Reactor vendor Westinghouse has created a Westinghouse Canada subsidiary, located in Toronto. It hopes to gain further service and upgrades contracts and position itself for potential sales of power plants based on its AP1000 and Small Modular Reactor power plant designs.

GE-Hitachi partners in Finland

Potential collaboration on future nuclear projects is the subject of a memorandum of understanding signed between reactor vendor GE-Hitachi and Space Systems Finland, which specialises in validation and verification of safety-critical software.

The public information mission of World Nuclear News is supported and made possible by the members of the World Nuclear Association.

WNN's fifth anniversary

This month marks the fifth full year that World Nuclear News has provided fast, free and accurate news on nuclear power. In celebration of this milestone, WNN is proud to deliver its readers this upgraded website and invite them to take a retrospective look at its work so far.