Irradiated lead test rods containing Westinghouse's EnCore advanced fuel technology have arrived at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory where they will undergo a year of testing to support regulatory licensing efforts. The fuel is being developed under the DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an industry-led effort looking to commercialise new fuels within the decade.

Newly released results from a pre-feasibility study of the Etango-8 uranium project have confirmed the strong technical and economic viability of conventional open pit mining and heap leach processing of the deposit in Namibia, Bannerman Energy has announced. The company now plans to complete a definitive feasibility study in 2022.

Jordan has been operating a "pioneering" processing plant to recover yellowcake from uranium ores since the start of the year, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Commission has announced. Khaled Toukan's remarks were reported by state news agency Petra and shared by the Jordanian Uranium Mining Company, operator of the plant. JUMCO, which is the commercial arm of Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission, was established in 2013 to carry out radioactive elements exploration and development in Jordan.

Unit 4 of the Kola nuclear power plant in Murmansk, Russia has successfully completed the fifth cycle of irradiation using "third generation" RK-3 fuel designed for VVER-440 reactors. During the planned fuel loading, a televisual inspection of the irradiated fuel was performed with the help of specialised equipment, which showed that, after five irradiation cycles, all RK-3 assemblies had retained their original shape and all the fuel rods were sealed.

The newly created Sprott Physical Uranium Trust has begun trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange after Sprott Asset Management LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of precious metals and real assets investments company Sprott Inc, completed a previously announced transaction with Uranium Participation Corporation.

Vancouver-based International Consolidated Uranium has agreed to buy the Tony M, Daneros and Rim conventional uranium mines in Utah, as well as the Sage Plain property and eight Department of Energy leases in Colorado from Energy Fuels Inc. In addition, the companies have agreed to enter into toll-milling and operating agreements with respect to the projects. The transaction positions International Consolidated Uranium as a potential near-term US uranium producer.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced the uranium market as several companies announced in the second quarter of 2020 measures leading to an important decrease of uranium production and related services, the Euratom Supply Agency says in its newly released 2020 Annual Report. The report provides an overview of nuclear fuel supply and demand in the EU.

The world's first cosmic-ray muon detector developed specifically for use in industry-standard boreholes, has been deployed at Orano's McClean Lake site in northern Saskatchewan where it will be used to image a uranium deposit. The technology developed by Canadian start-up company Ideon Technologies could transform mineral exploration.

Workers are returning to the Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, ahead of its planned restart later this week, Cameco has announced. All non-essential personnel were evacuated last week from the site as a precaution due to the proximity of a nearby wildfire.

Production at Cigar Lake has been suspended and Cameco is evacuating all non-essential personnel from the uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan as a precaution due to the proximity of a nearby wildfire. Some 230 workers are being transported off site, the company said yesterday, with about 80 essential personnel remaining on-site to maintain the facility in a safe state.

Kazatomprom plans to maintain 2023 uranium production at a similar level to 2022, which it says would remove up to 5,000 tU from anticipated global primary supply. The Kazakh company also said its sale of a 49% share of Ortalyk LLP to a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corporation will now be completed at the end of July.

Oklo Inc has announced a USD2 million cost-share award from the US Department of Energy supported by the Technology Commercialisation Fund. Oklo is matching USD1 million in funds in a public-private partnership with the DOE and Argonne National Laboratory. The TCF project will enable the commercialisation of advanced fuel recycling capabilities by utilising electrorefining technology.