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Japan's Mutsu Spent Fuel Interim Storage Facility May Expand Participants; KEPCO and Hokuriku Electric Power Say They Are Considering

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) began contacting eight other domestic electric power companies that own nuclear power plants on August 10, asking whether they would be interested in participating in the expansion of the entities responsible for transporting spent fuel to the interim storage facility in Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture. Among the eight companies contacted, Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and Hokuriku Electric Power Company indicated in response to the inquiries that they are considering whether to participate. In December 2025, TEPCO and JAPC had submitted a proposal to Aomori Prefecture and Mutsu City regarding the expansion of operating entities, and at that time they had also sought the intentions of these eight companies...

2026-08-12

Belarusian NPP safe operation period may be extended to 100 years, with first spent fuel to be shipped to Russia for reprocessing in 2034

Stanislav Levitsky, head of the Rosatom representative office in Belarus, stated on the "Economic Environment" program of Belarusian TV Channel One that Belarusian nuclear energy development is backed by comprehensive safety assurances. He emphasized that while nuclear facilities can indeed have serious consequences if mismanaged, under the existing risk control system and modern technological support at the Belarusian NPP, nuclear power can become a low-cost, stable, and safe energy source. Levitsky believes that amid intense competition in the energy sector, some irresponsible players may use information tactics to create anxiety and attempt to provoke panic among the public...

2026-08-10

U.S. Department of Energy Selects SHINE Technologies for Genesis Initiative, AI to Optimize Reprocessing of 95,000 Tons of Spent Nuclear Fuel

The U.S. Department of Energy has selected SHINE Technologies to participate in the Genesis mission, advancing the application of artificial intelligence in the nuclear industry. The core objective of the project is to develop an AI-assisted design system for engineers to plan more efficient spent fuel reprocessing facilities. The United States currently has approximately 95,000 tons of accumulated spent nuclear fuel, which has historically posed long-term storage and disposal challenges. The new approach seeks to recover still-valuable components from this material, reducing waste volume and improving resource utilization. The key to this project lies in transforming traditional engineering design methods. In the past, metrics such as throughput, final product quality, and waste volume in nuclear fuel reprocessing processes were typically evaluated separately...

2026-08-09

Canadian laboratory validates molten salt separation process with real spent fuel, extracting nearly 90% of plutonium in 24 hours

A chemical experiment in Canada involving real commercial reactor spent fuel has achieved noteworthy progress. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, in shielded hot cells at Chalk River, used irradiated spent fuel from CANDU reactors to validate the first phase of Moltex Energy's waste-to-stable-salt process. The experiment showed that within 24 hours, 89.4% of the plutonium was transferred into the molten salt; by 60 hours, this proportion rose to 94.3%. Meanwhile, the vast majority of uranium remained outside the salt phase, indicating that the process exhibits strong selectivity in separating target elements. This process, named WATSS, is not a plutonium purification route but rather a group separation technology. In addition to large quantities of uranium, spent fuel contains fission products as well as transuranic elements such as plutonium and americium, the latter being a significant source of long-term radiological risk. WATSS uses high-temperature chloride molten salt and specific reducing metals to convert transuranic oxides into salt-soluble forms, while most uranium oxides remain solid. In this experiment, researchers used niobium as the reducing metal; after 24 hours, only 0.05% of uranium entered the salt, dropping to 0.02% after 60 hours, demonstrating that it does not carry large amounts of uranium into the molten salt system.

2026-08-09

Finland's Onkalo Repository to Be Commissioned, Experts Say 100,000-Year Safety Assessment Still Faces Uncertainties

Finland's Olkiluoto is about to commission the world's first permanent deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel — Onkalo. The facility is designed for long-term underground containment of spent fuel, with a design safety period of up to 100,000 years. There remains debate within the nuclear industry over whether such facilities can remain safe over such an immense timescale. Dmitry Pripachkin, head of the Department of Radiation Physics and Nuclear Technology Safety at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), stated that modern science does not yet possess tools capable of reliably predicting the state of such facilities after 100,000 years. Science can study the evolution of geological formations over long historical periods, but...

2026-08-09

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to Raise Spent Fuel Pool Water Levels to Mitigate Power Outage Risks

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that the operator of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has decided to raise the water levels in the spent fuel pools on site to enhance safety buffer capacity in the event of a prolonged loss of external power. The primary purpose of raising the water levels is to extend the time before water in the spent fuel pools begins to boil and evaporate under extreme conditions where external power to the plant is interrupted for an extended period, diesel reserves are depleted, and emergency diesel generators can no longer supply power to the cooling systems. Spent fuel pools are used to store used nuclear fuel underwater, typically for at least five years, allowing its radioactivity and residual heat to gradually decay, making continuous cooling a critical element of nuclear safety. All six units at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant...

2026-08-08

Mutsu City Requests Submission of Revised Plan for 5,000-Ton Transport to Spent Fuel Interim Storage Facility

On August 7, Tomoya Yamamoto, Mayor of Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, met with representatives of Recycle Fuel Storage (RFS) and its co-investors Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO HD) and Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC), requesting the three parties to submit a revised mid-to-long-term spent nuclear fuel transport plan, with consideration given to inter-operator cooperation. The plan may involve accepting spent nuclear fuel from other electric power companies. The facility in question, located in Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, is currently Japan's only interim spent fuel storage facility situated outside a nuclear power plant site. Under the existing siting agreement, the facility's acceptance scope...

2026-08-08

Mutsu City in Japan agrees to study receiving fuel from other companies at interim spent fuel storage facility

On August 7, Mutsu City in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, notified Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO Holdings) and Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) that it agreed to allow the two companies to study a plan to receive spent nuclear fuel from other electric power companies at the local interim spent fuel storage facility. The facility, promoted and constructed by entities related to the two companies, is the only facility in Japan located outside nuclear power plant sites for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Under the current arrangement, the facility only accepts spent nuclear fuel from TEPCO Holdings and JAPC, and spent nuclear fuel from other companies is not permitted to be transported in. On the same day, Mutsu City Mayor Tomoya Yamamoto met with senior executives of the two companies at City Hall...

2026-08-07

Newcleo Initiates U.S. Regulatory Pre-Application Engagement for MOX Fuel Facility, Accelerating Advanced Reactor Fuel Supply Chain Development

Advanced reactor and nuclear fuel company Newcleo has initiated regulatory pre-application engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility, with plans to advance construction at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This move indicates that the company is not only advancing the licensing of its advanced reactor itself but also seeking to establish supporting fuel supply capabilities in parallel, aiming to mitigate fuel bottlenecks in future commercial deployment. The submitted regulatory engagement plan represents a key step prior to formal license application, with the core objective of communicating with regulators in advance on facility design, safety standards, review scope, and key technical issues. Newcleo previously submitted its regulatory engagement plan for the LFR-AS-200 lead-cooled fast reactor to the NRC in July...

2026-08-07

Curio, NuScale and Framatome Sign MOU to Advance Next-Generation Nuclear Fuel Cycle Solutions

Curio, NuScale Power and Framatome Inc. recently signed a strategic memorandum of understanding to jointly evaluate integrated nuclear fuel solutions aimed at strengthening the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain and supporting the international nuclear energy market and the deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies. Under the agreement, the three parties will conduct evaluations centered on Curio's proprietary NuCycle recycling technology, focusing on the conversion pathways of recyclable nuclear materials from "source to product" and from "source to fuel." The collaboration also encompasses future engineering coordination, fuel development, fuel qualification, manufacturing and commercialization, as well as advancing the integration of nuclear supply chain-related segments...

2026-08-07

Three U.S. Nuclear Energy Companies Explore Manufacturing Next-Generation Reactor Fuel from Recycled Nuclear Materials

U.S. nuclear energy companies Curio, NuScale Power, and Framatome have signed a memorandum of understanding to evaluate the feasibility of converting recycled nuclear materials into next-generation reactor fuel and related products. The tri-party collaboration is not focused on immediate commercial production, but rather on research into technical feasibility, fuel development, manufacturing capabilities, supply chain integration, and future commercial deployment, seeking to connect spent fuel recycling, fuel fabrication, and advanced reactor applications into a more complete industrial chain. Under this collaboration, Curio will provide its NuCycle nuclear fuel recycling technology, aiming to recover reusable strategic nuclear materials from spent fuel, with claims of reducing residual waste volume by up to 97%.

2026-08-07

IAEA Publishes Report on Aging Management of Spent Fuel Dry Storage Systems

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published the findings of a decade-long study on aging management of spent fuel dry storage systems. According to IAEA estimates, by the end of 2024, spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants worldwide had exceeded 400,000 tonnes of heavy metal (tHM). Of this, 106,000 tHM is in dry storage, a long-term storage method that is becoming increasingly common compared with wet storage. Most IAEA member states are still decades away from commissioning permanent spent fuel repositories, which means dry storage systems will likely need to continue operating safely beyond their design lifetimes. Wet storage has been in operation for decades, and the IAEA states that aging management of such facilities is generally well understood. Utilities choose dry storage for its passive safety features, and many dry storage facilities have already received license extensions. The IAEA expects demand for dry storage to continue growing, with service periods extending well beyond the original 20-to-40-year licensing terms, potentially exceeding 120 years. Aging management programs (AMPs) are therefore needed to verify continued safe operation.

2026-08-06

Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology and Canada's Saskatchewan Province Strengthen Cooperation on Peaceful Use of Nuclear Technology

Vietnam and Canada's Saskatchewan Province are cooperating on the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Officials from both sides met in Hanoi on August 5, 2026, to discuss directions for cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, particularly in advanced nuclear technology. The Vietnamese side stated that as Vietnam's energy demand grows, ensuring a stable, green, and clean energy supply is of paramount importance, expressing strong interest in research on small modular reactors (SMRs) as well as CANDU reactor technology. During the meeting, both sides discussed strengthening cooperation among regulatory agencies, legal departments, and research organizations in the nuclear technology field, covering legal framework development, technical standards, nuclear safety and safeguards assessment licensing, accident response, and...

2026-08-06

Trump Administration Revives Spent Fuel Disposal Plan, Seeks State Cooperation

The Trump administration is reshaping spent fuel policy, attempting to restart a long-stalled permanent disposal program through a combination of administrative and legislative measures. This initiative aims to address the growing accumulation of spent fuel, a long-standing issue that has lacked an effective solution. To fund the Nuclear Waste Fund and restore the Department of Energy's access to its $50 billion in resources, the draft legislation proposes reinstating surcharges on nuclear power plants. The core of this policy shift lies in seeking state government participation and cooperation, hoping that states will proactively assume a leading role in spent fuel disposal. While at least two states have already expressed willingness to serve as potential candidate sites, long-time advocates and researchers monitoring the issue warn that significant political resistance and logistical challenges lie ahead.

2026-08-06

Oklahoma Strives to Build the Nation's First Nuclear Energy Innovation Hub

Oklahoma is actively competing to become the first nuclear energy innovation hub in the United States, having submitted a detailed 31-page proposal. The plan aims to cover the entire nuclear fuel lifecycle management, encompassing fuel fabrication, advanced reactor construction, spent fuel recycling, and permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Oklahoma's goal is to establish the first permanent waste disposal solution in the U.S., achieving this before commercial nuclear power deployment. In the proposal, deep borehole drilling for radioactive waste disposal emerges as a key component. This method involves drilling thousands of feet deep and placing radioactive waste sealed in specially designed containers into the subsurface, followed by sealing the borehole.

2026-08-05