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Romania and Russia earlier this week signed an inter-governmental agreement on the removal of spent nuclear fuel from the research reactor at Turnu-Magurele, in the south of the country. Russia pledged to repatriate the nuclear fuel, supplied to Romania back in 1957, for temporary technological storage, subsequent processing and ultimate disposal. The director of the national committee for the control of nuclear activity, Borbala Vaida, signed the agreement for Romania, and the general director of the atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, for Russia. The contract was concluded within the framework of the Russian-US agreement of 2004 on the repatriation of highly-enriched nuclear wastes and their subsequent processing. The project's value is estimated at 4.5 million dollars, which is to be disbursed by the US Department of State. Romania will pay about 700,000 dollars for keeping processed nuclear fuel in Russia. The contract concerns about 200 kilograms of highly enriched (36 percent) nuclear fuel, which may pose a threat, if seized by terrorists. This amount is enough to make a nuclear explosive device. The experimental nuclear reactor in Romania, loaded with Russian fuel, was shut down in 2002, and in 2003 Russia removed part of the waste. The operation will be completed in 2009.

"In a special issue of Daedalus on the "Global Nuclear Future," published by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Pierre Goldschmidt posits that further improving the reliability of fuel supply is best achieved by giving priority to fuel leasing contracts coupled with long-term generic export licenses, and last resort multilateral fuel supply arrangements. Regarding the back-end of the fuel cycle, Goldschmidt argues that developing multinational fuel-storage and geological disposal facilities will be relegated to the distant horizon due to the prevailing "Not-In-My-Backyard" syndrome."

U.S. reactors have generated about 65,000 metric tons of spent fuel, of which 75 percent is stored in pools, according to Nuclear Energy Institute data. Spent fuel rods give off about 1 million rems (10,00Sv) of radiation per hour at a distance of one foot - enough radiation to kill people in a matter of seconds. There are more than 30 million such rods in U.S. spent fuel pools. No other nation has generated this much radioactivity from either nuclear power or nuclear weapons production. Nearly 40 percent of the radioactivity in U.S. spent fuel is cesium-137 (4.5 billion curies) - roughly 20 times more than released from all atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. U.S. spent pools hold about 15-30 times more cesium-137 than the Chernobyl accident released. For instance, the pool at the Vermont Yankee reactor, a BWR Mark I, currently holds nearly three times the amount of spent fuel stored at Dai-Ichi's crippled Unit 4 reactor. The Vermont Yankee reactor also holds about seven percent more rad

MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - Russian nuclear fuel corporation TVEL proposes to launch a new type of VVER reactor fuel. Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation, said on its website that its own specialists and specialists from TVEL would discuss the launch of TVSA-Alfa, a new version of the TVSA fuel, at a meeting on May 14. TVEL told Interfax that the new fuel would increase the uranium feed and make nuclear power plant fuel cycles more economical.

With the receipt of dummy fuel from Russia, India has moved a step forward towards commissioning the first unit of 2x1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu. IANS reliably learns that the dummy fuel landed in Tuticorin port Saturday and has reached Kudankulam where the Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) is putting up the project with Russian equipment. Kudankulam is in Tirunelveli district, about 600 km from Chennai. Dummy fuel is similar to real fuel in terms of weight and other features, but without uranium. It will be inserted into the reactor core to test the functioning of all systems, a process technically called status of hot operation. If the systems function as per norms, the real fuel will be loaded so that the reactor attains criticality.

Worried about global warming? Forget nuclear. Nuclear power creates 25 times as much greenhouse gas as wind power. This occurs primarily during the mining, milling and enrichment of the uranium fuel. It takes a lot of work and a lot of fossil fuel to turn uranium ore into uranium fuel. If you doubt this, or question the numbers, there are several sources to check, including several at ScienceDaily.com. Nuclear power will create more greenhouse gas in the future. This will occur when it becomes necessary to use lower grades of uranium ore for fuel. Higher grades of uranium ore currently used for fuel will be depleted in the not-too-distant future. Lower grades of ore require more fossil fuels for mining, milling and enrichment.

Storing spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites and eventually depositing the waste in a geologic repository is likely to be the most expensive of several options available for addressing the US' atomic waste problem, the Government Accountability Office said in a report evaluating different storage and repository options. Nevada senators Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican, requested the GAO report on nuclear waste management in addition to Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. The report evaluates the Department of Energy's nuclear waste management program and other possible approaches to storing spent nuclear fuel in the long term. It evaluates the attributes, challenges and cost of the Yucca Mountain waste repository program in Nevada, which President Barack Obama's administration is terminating, and alternative waste management approaches. The Obama administration plans to establish a commission to evaluate the alternatives to Yucca Mountain, which is roughly 95 miles outside Las Vegas. GAO does not make a final recommendation in the report but does call on federal agencies, industry and policymakers to consider a "complementary and parallel" strategy of interim and long-term disposal options. Such a route "would allow [the government] time to work with local communities and to pursue research and development efforts in key areas," GAO said in the report. GAO estimates that developing Yucca Mountain to dispose of 153,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel would cost $41 billion to $67 billion in 2009 present value over a 143-year period until the repository is closed. The US is expected to generate 153,000 metric tons of nuclear waste by 2055, GAO said.

Storing spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites and eventually depositing the waste in a geologic repository is likely to be the most expensive of several options available for addressing the US' atomic waste problem, the Government Accountability Office said in a report evaluating different storage and repository options. Nevada senators Harry Reid, a Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican, requested the GAO report on nuclear waste management in addition to Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat. The report evaluates the Department of Energy's nuclear waste management program and other possible approaches to storing spent nuclear fuel in the long term. It evaluates the attributes, challenges and cost of the Yucca Mountain waste repository program in Nevada, which President Barack Obama's administration is terminating, and alternative waste management approaches. The Obama administration plans to establish a commission to evaluate the alternatives to Yucca Mountain, which is roughly 95 miles outside Las Vegas. GAO does not make a final recommendation in the report but does call on federal agencies, industry and policymakers to consider a "complementary and parallel" strategy of interim and long-term disposal options. Such a route "would allow [the government] time to work with local communities and to pursue research and development efforts in key areas," GAO said in the report. GAO estimates that developing Yucca Mountain to dispose of 153,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel would cost $41 billion to $67 billion in 2009 present value over a 143-year period until the repository is closed. The US is expected to generate 153,000 metric tons of nuclear waste by 2055, GAO said.

ome work at Nuclear Fuel Services in northeast Tennessee has been suspended as the company implements a safety initiative. All the employees returned to work last week though work was curtailed in the production operations area, commercial development line and down-blending facility. The company, which employs about 800, also initiated pay cuts for salaried workers and is reviewing such cuts for others. NFS processes nuclear fuel for the country's nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and also converts government stockpiles of highly enriched uranium into material suitable for further processing into commercial nuclear reactor fuel.

ome work at Nuclear Fuel Services in northeast Tennessee has been suspended as the company implements a safety initiative. All the employees returned to work last week though work was curtailed in the production operations area, commercial development line and down-blending facility. The company, which employs about 800, also initiated pay cuts for salaried workers and is reviewing such cuts for others. NFS processes nuclear fuel for the country's nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers and also converts government stockpiles of highly enriched uranium into material suitable for further processing into commercial nuclear reactor fuel.

"Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russia set up the world's first nuclear fuel reserve Monday to ensure uninterrupted supplies for the world's power reactors. The idea for a fuel bank was initiated by the IAEA in order to give countries an alternative to developing their own uranium enrichment technology, like Iran has done. "With our effort, we made the world a little better," said Sergei Kirienko, the head of Russia's nuclear corporation ROSATOM in Vienna, after signing the agreement with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano. The reserve is intended as an insurance mechanism for countries whose foreign supply of nuclear fuel is interrupted. In such a case, the IAEA would provide the nuclear material, which is to be made and stored at Angarsk in Siberia. The recipient country would pay current market prices for the low-enriched uranium. Russia would have 30 per cent of the target of one reactor load ready by the end of the year, Kirienko said. Developing countries have expressed scepticism about the fuel bank, as they fear that such mechanisms might indirectly prevent them from acquiring peaceful nuclear technology."

This is the second in a series of stories dealing with the issue of spent fuel stored at the nation's nuclear power plants. BRATTLEBORO -- With spent fuel piling up at commercial nuclear power plants around the country and no permanent disposal site on the horizon, many power plant operators are hoping the federal government might soon endorse the interim storage of the waste at one or two locations in the nation. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry-funded organization that promotes nuclear power around the world, is suggesting just that. "An interim facility wouldn't have to be huge," said Thomas Kauffman, senior media relations manager for NEI. If you were to put the 60,000 tons of spent fuel currently being stored in dry casks into one location, he said, "They would fit onto an area of about a square half-mile." No site has been identified yet for interim storage. "The industry has had some dialogue with volunteer communities," said Kauffman. Those communities include the sites of decommissioned power plants.

This is the second in a series of stories dealing with the issue of spent fuel stored at the nation's nuclear power plants. BRATTLEBORO -- With spent fuel piling up at commercial nuclear power plants around the country and no permanent disposal site on the horizon, many power plant operators are hoping the federal government might soon endorse the interim storage of the waste at one or two locations in the nation. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry-funded organization that promotes nuclear power around the world, is suggesting just that. "An interim facility wouldn't have to be huge," said Thomas Kauffman, senior media relations manager for NEI. If you were to put the 60,000 tons of spent fuel currently being stored in dry casks into one location, he said, "They would fit onto an area of about a square half-mile." No site has been identified yet for interim storage. "The industry has had some dialogue with volunteer communities," said Kauffman. Those communities include the sites of decommissioned power plants.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GE.N) (6501.T) has proposed an alternative nuclear fuel recycling system, which could reduce radioactive waste and avoid extraction of plutonium that can be used for making weapons. Nuclear experts say while the proposed Advanced Recycling Center (ARC) could help to solve some of the biggest worries as more countries build nuclear reactors, high costs are drawbacks. Here is what is happens about spent nuclear fuel at present: -- What happens to spent nuclear fuel?

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GE.N) (6501.T) has proposed an alternative nuclear fuel recycling system, which could reduce radioactive waste and avoid extraction of plutonium that can be used for making weapons. Nuclear experts say while the proposed Advanced Recycling Center (ARC) could help to solve some of the biggest worries as more countries build nuclear reactors, high costs are drawbacks. Here is what is happens about spent nuclear fuel at present: -- What happens to spent nuclear fuel?

Areva and Japanese partners said they have formed a new fuel company in a four-party agreement, the companies said in a December 22 press statement. The four companies are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Areva, Mitsubishi Materials Corp., and Mitsubishi Corp. The New Company, as they called it, "will be a full-fledged nuclear fuel supplier, integrating development, design, manufacturing and sales of nuclear fuel." The companies said they "are now entering into more detailed discussions with the target of having the New Company established during the first half of 2009." Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co. Ltd. will be restructured and MHI, MMC and Areva "will transfer their related business" to the new company.

Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Spent Fuel Facility; Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding the Proposed Exemption From Certain Regulatory Requirements of 10 CFR Part 20 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Issuance of an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shana Helton, Senior Project Manager, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Rockville, MD 20852. Telephone: (301) 492- 3284; fax number: (301) 492-3348; e-mail: shana.helton@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.2301, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption to the United States Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office (DOE or applicant), from the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1501(c). Section 20.1501(c) requires that dosimeter processors hold current personnel dosimetry accreditation from the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Exemption from this requirement of 10 CFR 20.1501(c) would allow DOE to use the DOE Laboratory Accreditation Program (DOELAP) process for personnel dosimetry at Idaho Spent Fuel (ISF) facility independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI), located at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Butte County, Idaho.

The government on Tuesday ordered 12 tons of bomb-grade uranium converted into commercial reactor fuel as backup in case another source of fuel from weapon ingredients is delayed. The highly enriched uranium, already declared surplus for the nation's nuclear arsenal, will come from the vast storage vaults at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. The material will be converted or "down-blended" at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin, Tenn., into about 220 tons of low-enriched uranium suitable for commercial reactors. The work will begin this year and be completed in 2012. The uranium will be shipped to Westinghouse Electric Co.'s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina and held in reserve for utilities contracting for reactor fuel from a plutonium mixed-oxide processing plant being built at the Savannah River Site. The $4.8 billion mixed-oxide facility at Savannah River is scheduled to open in 2016. The program is on time to this point, officials said.

Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to keep countries from acquiring nuclear technology by offering them alternatives got a boost this week as three plans for nuclear fuel banks and multinational fuel factories were tabled. The latest proposal was put forward by Germany on Friday. The text foresees the creation of an internationally-governed nuclear fuel production plant. Two additional, complementary, proposals for Russian and IAEA fuel banks to provide supply of last resort are also to be considered by the 35 countries on the IAEA's governing board in June. The ideas were proposed by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in 2003 to keep countries such as Iran from acquiring uranium enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which can be used not only for energy purposes, but also for making nuclear bomb material. But diplomats say the Vienna-based nuclear agency is split on the issue between those countries that already hold the technology, and sceptical countries such as Egypt, Argentina and Brazil, many of them developing economies.

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) has announced a postponement to the start of construction of its mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant and a delay in installing new centrifuges at its enrichment plant. The company has requested that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) revise its original application for the construction of its MOX fuel plant to allow for a further six month before the start of its construction. Construction of the J-MOX fabrication facility at Rokkasho had originally been scheduled to begin in 2007, but has been delayed by reviews of seismic criteria. In April, JNFL said that it planned to start work last month, with an expected start-up date of June 2015 for the plant, revising the date of 2012 specified in an earlier construction application.

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) has announced a postponement to the start of construction of its mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant and a delay in installing new centrifuges at its enrichment plant. The company has requested that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Meti) revise its original application for the construction of its MOX fuel plant to allow for a further six month before the start of its construction. Construction of the J-MOX fabrication facility at Rokkasho had originally been scheduled to begin in 2007, but has been delayed by reviews of seismic criteria. In April, JNFL said that it planned to start work last month, with an expected start-up date of June 2015 for the plant, revising the date of 2012 specified in an earlier construction application.

"The nuclear energy industry made several policy recommendations today to the blue ribbon commission counseling the U.S. Department of Energy on future management of used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. These recommendations included the value of centralized temporary storage of used fuel assemblies, the continuing need for a geologic disposal facility even if used fuel is recycled, and a new management and financing structure for the entity that oversees the program. "The greatest service that the commission can render to the nation is to develop a used fuel management policy that will endure, define a process for implementing the policy, determine the timelines to be followed to achieve the policy, and delineate the legal and legislative changes needed to make the policy a reality," said Nuclear Energy Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin Fertel in a presentation to the commission."

Just two years ago, Morris was in the running to become a nuclear fuel recycling site. But a backlash - in evidence at a Bolingbrook hearing Dec. 4 - has the Department of Energy asking Americans if the U.S. should recycle fuel and how it should happen. The department wanted three facilities: a research lab, a recycling center and a recycling reactor. The reactor would make electricity while destroying the long-lasting radioactive fuel leftovers. The plan was part of President Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) to increase nuclear energy use. Missed the hearing? To submit comments to the Department of Energy on whether we should recycle spent nuclear fuel: n Write to: Mr. Frank Schwartz, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy - NE-5, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20585. n Fax: 866-645-7807 n Visit: www.regulations.gov

Speakers were split on whether the nation needs to get a faster jump on reusing spent commercial nuclear fuel or drop plans to reprocess it during comments at a public hearing Monday evening in Pasco. About 120 people came to the hearing on a new draft environmental study for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP, that considered whether fuel should be used more than the one time now allowed in the United States. The draft study favored reprocessing fuel to use multiple times, but did not pick a preferred way of doing that. It also did not look at specific sites for reprocessing fuel, as expected when 300 people attended a meeting on GNEP in Pasco last spring and Tri-City residents promoted a new production mission for Hanford.

Nuclear power generator operators would go straight to the US Department of Energy to seek damages instead of to the courts if the agency does not remove all of the spent fuel from future reactor sites within 10 years after the unit closes, DOE waste program director Edward Sproat said Monday. Sproat told reporters following a nuclear waste symposium in Washington that under a proposed DOE spent fuel disposal contract for new reactors, a utility would receive $5 million a year until all of the spent fuel has been removed from the site. Total damages paid to a utility, Sproat said, would be limited to the total amount the utility has paid into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund for the disposal of spent fuel generated by that unit.