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Lead assemblies of Framatome's GAIA Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel have completed their first 18-month fuel cycle at a US nuclear power plant. This is the first time a full-length EATF concept with both pellets and cladding has completed a fuel cycle in a reactor.

A new technology using drones, developed by the International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency for use by the authorities of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, allows for the remote monitoring of radiation measurements in areas where contamination is too high for people to enter. The IAEA said the technology is now available for practical use in routine or emergency situations.

Speakers at the US ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Association's 17th Annual State of the ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Industry Forum last week called for the reimagination of the electricity grid and likened the efforts needed to develop alternative energy carriers, particularly for hard-to-decarbonise sectors, to a "moonshot".

Using nuclear plants to generate heat as well as electricity for non-grid industrial applications could be central to deep decarbonisation efforts beyond being a source of zero-carbon electricity. Speakers at the fifth Atlantic Council Global ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Forum last week looked at how hydrogen - and nuclear - can contribute to carbon abatement efforts in areas that have so far been hard to decarbonise.

The use of advanced nuclear technologies could help the world meet increasing electricity demand whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the deployment and commercialisation of advanced reactors faces many challenges, according to a discussion on nuclear innovation at the Atlantic Council Global ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Forum.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a topical report on Westinghouse Advanced Doped Pellet Technology Fuel, which the company has said is a major achievement for the advanced fuel portfolio it is developing as part of its EnCore fuel programme.

The UK and Japan have signed a research and technology deployment collaboration agreement to help automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion energy production. The collaboration is expected to lead to new robotics and automation techniques used in Japan and the UK.

The challenges the nuclear industry faces are largely external and must be overcome if it is to help tackle the existential threat of climate change, panellists in the Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß and its Future session of the Reuters Next conference on 11 January said. These challenges include: the notion nuclear is an out-dated technology; the cost of finance; market design; political changes; perceived competition with renewable energy; and the public's misconceptions about radioactive waste.

The US Administration has issued an Executive Order on Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration, which it says will further revitalise the US nuclear energy sector and reinvigorate its space exploration programme. This includes directives to demonstrate the use of microreactors on military bases and also to ensure a viable US-origin supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC's process to produce molybdenum-99 from concentrated Mo-98 and related software upgrades for its RadioGenix System technetium-99m generator. This will significantly increase US production and capacity for non-uranium based Mo-99, the company says.

Rusatom - Additive Technologies has opened its first Additive Technologies Centre as the only such facility in Russia using domestic equipment. Located at the site of the Moscow Polymetal Plant, the ATC will mainly test additive manufacturing technologies and demonstrate their capabilities for industrial enterprises.

The US Department of ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Office of Nuclear ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß has selected five teams to receive USD30 million in initial funding for risk reduction projects under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. All five of the selected designs have the potential to compete globally once deployed, DOE said.