Framatome has inaugurated a new workshop at its site in Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme department of southeastern France, dedicated to the fabrication of fuel for research reactors and targets for medical isotopes.

James Scongack is chief operating officer of Canada's Bruce Power, and chairman of the Canadian Nuclear Isotopes Council. Here is an edited transcript of his World Nuclear News podcast interview about the importance of nuclear medicine and how it complements the industry's core energy business.

As South Africa's Safari-1 research reactor marks its 60th anniversary, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientso Ramokgopa has announced a budget allocation of ZAR1.2 billion (USD66 million) towards a new multipurpose reactor at Pelindaba.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed what it says is the world's first "uranium rechargeable battery" and that tests have verified its performance in charging and discharging. Meanwhile, South Korean researchers have developed a prototype betavoltaic battery powered by the carbon-14 isotope.

Bruce Power's Chief Operating Officer James Scongack is also Chairman of the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council and, as he explains, the country is aiming to grow its leadership role in nuclear medicine.

The refurbishment of unit 3 at Bruce Power's Ontario plant has passed a major milestone with all eight steam generators now in place. Meanwhile, the company has also completed its largest ever harvest of the vital cobalt-60 isotope during a planned outage at Bruce unit 5.

A project to develop the case for scaling-up the harvesting of lead-212 from reprocessed uranium for use in treating cancer has been selected for funding by UK Research and Innovation.

Operator Eletronuclear and the Brazilian Society of Nuclear Medicine have signed an agreement aimed at producing radioisotopes at Angra nuclear power plant's second unit.

The USD525 million acquisition of the Canadian nuclear services company Kinetrics "creates a comprehensive portfolio of end-to-end lifecycle services for customers in the small modular reactor and traditional large-scale nuclear reactor markets".