France, Germany, and the UK - together known as the E3, as the three founding members of the European Union - issued a joint statement yesterday reaffirming their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But they said they were "deeply troubled" by recent events in the Gulf and "concerned" over US-Iran relations.

The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has tasked experts to look into practical solutions for Iran’s export of low-enriched uranium and heavy water. Participants in its meeting last week have also announced the progress of a special purpose vehicle - known as INSTEX - to enable European businesses to maintain non-dollar trade with Iran without breaking US sanctions.

The amount of nuclear material around the world subject to safeguards increased in 2018, continuing a trend from previous years, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency's latest Safeguards Statement.

Belgium's nuclear security regime is robust, an international team of experts has concluded after a two-week follow-up review led by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A new use of neutron detectors for reactor monitoring and safeguards, developed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Ltd, could potentially be used for the independent verification of nuclear reactor activities and for monitoring the sealed cores of some small modular reactors.

The nuclear industry, both in the UK and internationally, is "changing rapidly and is facing significant challenges", the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation says in its Strategic Framework for International Engagement to 2025.

Shine Medical Isotopes yesterday broke ground on its first medical isotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. Commercial production of isotopes, including molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), is scheduled to begin in 2021.

Rosatom's project to build nuclear power units at Bushehr is unaffected by current tensions surrounding US sanctions against Iran, its director general said yesterday.

The USA and UK have conducted a transfer of some 700 kg of high enriched uranium (HEU) from Dounreay to the USA. The engineering firm, Wood, created specialist facilities for the air shipment.

India and the USA have committed to strengthen bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six US-designed nuclear power plants in India.

The US Administration's budget request for fiscal 2020, which begins on 1 October, seeks to restart the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing procedure for the Yucca Mountain geologic repository and also provides for the regulator to prepare for licensing advanced reactors.
 

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has called on its Member States to provide additional funding for the Agency's safeguards activities, such as those to verify the nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea.