A radical plan to dispose of Britain's huge store of civil plutonium - the biggest in the world - by "burning" it in a new type of fast reactor is now officially one of three "credible options" being considered by the Government, The Independent understands.
However, further delays have hit attempts to make a final decision on what to do with the growing plutonium stockpile which has been a recurring headache for successive governments over the past three decades.
Britain is set to tackle a 60-year-old problem that has dogged successive governments: how to resolve the deadly legacy from the country's first generation of nuclear power plants.
The UK is home to the world's largest stockpile of plutonium, with more than 100 tonnes of the highly radioactive material.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, whose job it is to look after the plutonium, is preparing to give its recommendation on how the government should deal with the problem, with an announcement expected as early as next month.
The Mox nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield was closed on Wednesday, with the loss of around 600 jobs.
The closure is a consequence of the Fukushima incident in Japan in March, which has closed down much of the nuclear industry there and led to a rethink of nuclear power around the world. But the government said the move had "no implications" for the UK's plans for new nuclear reactors.
Individual payments of up to £1m have been handed out from the public purse as a "golden goodbye" to directors at the loss-making nuclear holding group BNFL, according to the latest set of accounts.
David Bonser, executive director for human resources and a key figure in the development of BNFL's troubled Thorp reprocessing plant, received £1,046,350 compensation for ending his employment last month. That was on top of an annual salary and bonuses worth £577,112 for the 12 months to March 31, 2008.
The increased sourcing of raw uranium that will arise from nuclear new build is an ethical and environmental nightmare currently being ignored by the government.
The World Nuclear Association (WNA), the trade body for companies that make up 90% of the industry, admits that in "emerging uranium producing countries" there is frequently no adequate environmental health and safety legislation, let alone monitoring. It is considerately proposing a Charter of Ethics containing principles of uranium stewardship for its members to follow. But this is a self-policing voluntary arrangement. Similarly, the International Atomic Energy Agency's safety guide to the Management of Radioactive Waste from the Mining and Milling of Ores (pdf) are not legally binding on operators.
1&1 Internet - one of the world's largest web hosts - will build its next European data center inside an abandoned nuclear fuel facility.
Built in the late 1980s, Hanau, Germany's 'New MOX' plant was supposed to process fuel for nuclear reactors, making mixed oxide rods from enriched Uranium and Plutonium. But thanks to local protests, it was never turned on, and in 1995, it was abandoned by owner Siemens AG. Then, more than a decade later, after it escaped from nuclear control legislation, 1&1 came calling.
Expert accuses US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of shunning safe practice and hushing-up his independent guidance
THE accusation: "They refused to forward my questions to the applicant. They want[ed] me to water things down [and didn't] want me to criticise. I was not allowed to provide independent review." In this case 'they' is the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the 'applicant' is Shaw Areva Mox Services (SAMS), and the disgruntled tce quotee is Daniel Tedder, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, US.
Britain has a stockpile of plutonium and uranium that, if converted to fuel, could be worth nearly £160 billion and power three nuclear reactors for 60 years, scientists say.
The future of the stockpile - largely left over from burning fuel - will be decided by ministers over the next year, The Times has learnt. Its value is estimated as the equivalent of 2.6 billion barrels of oil.
CHARLOTTE - Duke Energy has removed test bundles of mixed-oxide or MOX fuel from its Catawba nuclear plant on Lake Wylie as it investigates unusual physical changes in the assemblies.
Anti-MOX groups say the halt means the testing should start all over again, delaying by years a billion-dollar federal program to use surplus weapons plutonium at Catawba.
The credibility of the nuclear industry was shaken last night after the estimated cost of cleaning up Britain's atomic waste was raised by a further £10bn.
The latest clean-up estimate from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) suggests the commonly accepted figure of £73bn should rise to £83bn. But the agency insisted that £10bn of income from generating and fuel reprocessing plants should also be taken into account.
