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A new method to extract molybdenum-99 from low-enriched uranium targets, developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich, could significantly reduce the radioactive waste produced during the production of the isotope. Mo-99 is the precursor for medical radioisotope technetium-99m, used in more than 85% of all nuclear medicine diagnostic examinations.

Germany's Uniper Anlagenservice GmbH has become the first company to complete the dismantling, segmentation and packaging of two reactor pressure vessels in parallel within one year. In December 2021, the company successfully completed the dismantling of the vessels of both Sweden's Barsebäck unit 1 and Germany's Neckarwestheim I.

Germany's Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal has awarded a contract for planning the design and licensing of a waste treatment plant and an interim storage facility at the former Asse II salt mine in the district of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony. The winning consortium has until the end of 2023 to submit the plans.

The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C nuclear power plants were permanently shut down on 31 December in compliance with Germany's nuclear phase-out policy. The move leaves three reactors in operation, which are scheduled to be taken offline by the end of this year.

German utility RWE has awarded a contract to Westinghouse to dismantle two reactors at the Gundremmingen nuclear facility. It has also contracted a consortium comprising Framatome and Transnubel to dismantle the reactor of the Emsland plant.

Separate domestic and international initiatives to support the development and production of medical radioisotopes have been announced in Canada, Germany, Japan and the USA. These include a federal award of USD35 million to support the commercial production of molybdenum-99 in the USA; a new linear accelerator-based technique for production of actinium-225 in Japan; and a Canadian-German collaboration to explore the production of Ac-225.

Russia has set a target of 2060 to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, President Vladimir Putin has told Russian ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Week 2021. Counting nuclear exports as contributing towards global decarbonisation and saying Germany's phase out "does not make any sense", he said that he thinks energy system decisions should be made by experts.

Germany's phase-out of nuclear energy will only lead to the country missing its 2030 carbon emissions target, 25 leading foreign and German environmentalists, journalists and academics have written in an open letter to the German public. They call on German politicians to be "brave enough" to change legislation to at least postpone the shutdown of the country's reactors.

The former salt mine in Gorleben, Lower Saxony - previously considered a possible site for geological disposal of Germany's high-level radioactive waste - has officially closed, it was announced on 17 September. The site was excluded from a list of potential repository sites published last year by waste management organisation Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung.

France's Orano said it has signed contracts with German utilities EnBW, PreussenElektra, RWE and Vattenfall for the return of all the German nuclear waste remaining at its La Hague reprocessing plant. The entry into force of the contracts - worth in total more than EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion) - is subject to the formal agreement of the German and French governments.

PreussenElektra has received the second and final permit needed for the dismantling of the Unterweser nuclear power plant, while RWE Nuclear has received approval for its so-called 'sub-project 2' for the dismantling of the Lingen nuclear power plant. Both approvals were issued by the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß, Building and Climate Protection.

International Atomic ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has informed the agency's Board of Governors that Iran intends to use indigenously-produced uranium enriched up to 20% U-235 in the manufacture of fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, an IAEA spokesperson told ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß Nuclear News today. In doing so, as part of a multi-stage process, Iran will also produce uranium metal enriched up to 20% U-235.