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A large tunnelling machine has begun drilling the sloped spiral ramp of the Beishan Underground Research Laboratory near Jiuquan City in China's Gansu province. The laboratory - in the Gobi Desert - will comprise the spiral ramp, three vertical shafts and horizontal disposal galleries.

The first transuranic waste has been placed in a new panel at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Meanwhile, the capacity of a landfill disposal facility for waste and radioactively contaminated debris from decontamination and demolition work at Idaho National Laboratory is to be increased.
 

Germany has demonstrated commitment to the continued development of its national radioactive waste management programme since a previous review in 2019, a follow-up International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency mission has concluded.

The commissioning of a system for drying used nuclear fuel assemblies before they are sealed within copper canisters for final disposal has taken place at Finnish waste management company Posiva's encapsulation plant under construction at Olkiluoto.

The Finnish-German-Norwegian consortium Geological Repositories for Norway (GeoReN) has been awarded a framework agreement worth EUR40 million (USD41 million) to support the Norwegian Nuclear Decommissioning agency in the management of radioactive waste.

Cumbria-based engineering firm Forth has been awarded two contracts by UK governmental nuclear decommissioning company Magnox, the value of which has not been disclosed. Forth will supply waste retrieval solutions in Magnox wet vaults at Hinkley Point and also supply active effluent pumping facilities at Magnox's prototype steam generating heavy water reactor and Dragon reactor at Winfrith.

A new interim storage facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste has begun operating in Studsvik near Nyköping, Sweden. The facility will initially be used for the storage of waste from the decommissioning of the Ågesta nuclear power plant near Stockholm and the R2 research reactor in Studsvik.

The final container of transuranic waste has been emplaced in Panel 7 of the US Department of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The panel will now be sealed whilst emplacement activities move to the newly mined Panel 8.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc and Hitachi Zosen Corporation have established a 67-33 joint venture - known as Toso Mirai Manufacturing Company Limited - for the manufacture and sale of used fuel transport and storage casks as well as fuel debris storage containers.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation says construction has been completed and processing equipment is now being installed in the Synroc facility which is due to begin operations in 2025.

The first of two 300-tonne melters at the Hanford Site in Washington State which will transform radioactive and chemical waste into a glass form for safe disposal will take several weeks to reach its commissioning and operational temperature of 2100°F (1149°C).

The UK's Environment Agency has agreed to changes to the environmental permit for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant under construction in Somerset, England, allowing used nuclear fuel from the plant to be stored in a dry storage facility rather than a wet facility, as originally planned.