Russia and China are "seriously considering" building a nuclear power plant on the lunar surface by 2035, according to the head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos. Moscow plans to contribute its expertise in "nuclear space energy" to a joint lunar program with China, including a nuclear power plant on the moon,  Russia's space agency chief Yuri Borisov said on Monday. Borisov warned that solar panels would not be enough to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to potential lunar settlements. "Today we are seriously considering a project — somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 — to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues," Borisov said during a youth event. Some in the US have speculated that Russia is planning to use a new type of nuclear weapon against satellites. But the Roskosmos chief, who took over Roskosmos in 2022, insisted that Russia had no plans of stationing nuclear weapons in space. A nuclear plant on the moon would need to be made by machines, Borisov added, saying there were already usable technical solutions for the project. Space cooperation between Russia and China In March 2021, Moscow and Beijing signed an agreement on building an international lunar research station, and presented a roadmap for the construction in June 2021. China has its own lunar exploration program, with an unmanned "Chang'e-6" probe due to launch in May to collect rock samples. Meanwhile, the Russian space program has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years. Its first lunar mission in 47 years failed last year after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft went out of control and crashed. Race to put nuclear power on the moon? The concept of using nuclear reactors to power future lunar colonies has also been floated by the US space agency, NASA. Just months after the Apollo 11 mission put humans on the moon in 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts used a nuclear generator to provide electricity for scientific experiments on the moon's surface. With lunar nights lasting for 14 Earth days, relying solely on solar power carries risks for both manned and unmanned moon missions. But the issue of energy supply in space is growing even more essential as NASA pursues plans to return people to the Moon within its Artemis mission, with the first landing now scheduled for 2026.  In 2022, NASA announced it was cooperating with the US Department of Energy to select "concept proposals" for a nuclear power system "that could be ready to launch by the end of the decade." 

The Pantex Plant reopened after being shut down for a day given the threat of fires sweeping the northern Texas region. The fires prompted the Texas governor to issue a disaster declaration in the area. A nuclear weapons facility in the Texas Panhandle said it has reopened for operations on Wednesday, after it shut down for a day as a series of blazes burned in the region. The Texas Panhandle is a region of the US state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. Texas has a total of 254 counties, more than any other US state. Pantex reopens for 'normal' operations The Pantex Plant said the plant “is open for normal day shift operations” and that all personnel were to report for duty according to their assigned schedule. The plant earlier said Tuesday it was monitoring the threat and that there was no fire at the site. "Since 1975, Pantex has been the nation’s primary assembly, disassembly, retrofit, and life-extension center for nuclear weapons," the websitefor the plant says. It assembled the last new atomic bomb in 1991 and has also disassembled thousands. Pantex is about 17 miles (27.36 kilometers) northeast of the northern Texas city of Amarillo and some 320 miles (515 kilometers) northwest of Dallas.  What do we know about the fires? At least five fires were burning in the Texas Panhandle region as of early Wednesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. So far, more than 381,000 acres have been burned by the fires, according to the forest service. But 25 out of 31 fires in the state had been brought under control. On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties as the largest blaze, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, burned nearly 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometers), according to the forest service. That is more than twice its size since the fire sparked Monday. As of Wednesday, the Smokehouse Creek Fire was burning in the Hutchinson County, which includes the city of Canadian, a city about 100 miles northeast of Amarillo. An unknown number of homes and other structures in Hutchinson County have been damaged, officials said, and the air quality in the region has severely dipped.

The UN's nuclear watchdog has lamented a lack of access for inspectors in Iran and also noted continued uranium enrichment in a quarterly report. Recent public comments from Tehran were not reassuring either, it said. Iran is continuing to enrich and stockpile uranium, some of it to levels close to what would be needed to make nuclear weapons, a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday.  The IAEA report said that Iran had both increased the size of its overall uranium stockpile, and also accelerated production of 60% enriched uranium in the previous quarter.  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran's total uranium stockpile, enriched to any level, stood at an estimated 5,525.5 kg as of February 10. That is 1,038.7 kg more than what the UN nuclear agency accounted for the last time it released a report in November. It's also 27 times the limit once agreed with Iran in a 2015 international deal that the US broke under President Donald Trump and which has not been revived since. The country also produced some 25 kilograms of uranium with a purity of 60% between the end of October and February 25, according to the UN's nuclear watchdog. However, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium shrank during the same time period, because some of that highly enriched material had been mixed with lower grade uranium again and diluted. Typical nuclear bombs would require uranium enriched to 80% or more likely 90% purity although with enough material, more impure uranium can in theory be used. Most nuclear power plant reactors require uranium enriched only to 3.67%.  Public statements on nuclear capabilities 'only increase the ... concerns' The IAEA noted recent comments from Iran praising its nuclear production facilities and announcing that more would be built.  "Public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons only increase the Director General's concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran's safeguards declarations," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was quoted as saying in the report. Iran, which asserts that its nuclear program is for civilian and research purposes only, has in recent years taken several steps seemingly designed to limit IAEA oversight of its activities, including deactivating surveillance devices on site and barring certain IAEA inspectors.  International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said he deepy regretted that Iran had yet to reverse its decision to withdraw the "designations for some inspectors, which is essential" to monitoring Iran's nuclear stockpile. He called on Tehran to "cooperate fully and unambiguously with the agency," saying: "Only through constructive and meaningful engagement can these concerns be addressed."  Iran said last week that it had invited Grossi to visit the country for an international conference on energy in May of this year.  

The safety ban on TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has been lifted, allowing it to become operational once again. However, the facility still needs permission from local government bodies. Japan's nuclear regulator announced Wednesday that it has lifted its safety ban on Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the largest in the world in terms of capacity.  TEPCO has been looking to restart the plant due to high operating costs. It must now seek permission from local bodies in the Niigata prefecture, Kashiwazaki city, and Kariwa village. Why was the ban imposed? The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has a capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW) and was TEPCO's only operable atomic power station. It has been offline since 2012, after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 led to the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan. The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) said TEPCO's preparedness had improved and decided to lift the de facto ban. The body has carried out more than 4,000 hours of inspection of its facilities. Previously in 2021, the NRA had barred the plant from operating due to safety breaches and insufficient antiterrorism measures. This included a failure to protect nuclear materials and an incident that involved an unauthorized staff member accessing sensitive areas of the plant. It had then issued an order that prevented TEPCO from transporting new uranium fuel to the plant or loading fuel rods into its reactors. "The government will seek the understanding and cooperation of Niigata prefecture and local communities, emphasizing 'safety-first'," Yoshimasa Hayashi, the government's top spokesperson, said. After the decision, TEPCO said it would continue to work towards gaining the trust of the local community and society at large. On Tuesday,  a Tokyo court ruled that TEPCO, the only operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, had to pay damages to dozens of evacuees.  Japan has been trying to reactivate all domestic nuclear power plants that comply with the safety network, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels which need to be imported. But in some cases, there is opposition from locals or other regulatory bodies.

The IAEA nuclear watchdog said warm water streaming out of the light-water reactor at North Korea's Yongbyon facility suggests that the plant is operational. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found that a new nuclear reactor is apparently operational at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, sparking concern about an additional potential source of plutonium for nuclear weapons. North Korea has so far used spent fuel from a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon to meet its plutonium requirements to run its nuclear facility. However, according to the IAEA, a seemingly new discharge of warm water from a larger light-water reactor suggests that it is also operational. "The discharge of warm water is indicative the reactor has reached criticality," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Thursday, meaning the nuclear chain reaction in the reactor is self-sustaining. Since October, the IAEA has observed a strong outflow of water from the light-water reactor's cooling system, indicative of ongoing employment of the reactor. The presence of warm water is one of the more recent clues, Grossi said. Concerns over expansion of North Korea's nuclear programme In 2009, North Korea expelled international investigators so the IAEA does not have access to the country. The agency now relies on satellite imagery for investigating North Korea.  Without access, the IAEA cannot confirm if the nuclear reactor is operational, Grossi said. "The LWR, like any nuclear reactor, can produce plutonium in its irradiated fuel, which can be separated during reprocessing, so this is a cause for concern," he said, adding that the advancement of North Korea's nuclear program was "deeply regrettable." A study from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in California also concluded the reactor could be operational. It added that it may be "a significant source of nuclear material" for the nuclear weapons program, which is banned by UN Security Council resolutions. Another study by the Institute for Science and International Security estimated that the light-water reactor "could allow a surge in plutonium quantities at an estimated rate of about 20 kilograms of plutonium per year, a rate four to five times larger than that of the small adjacent reactor."

The nuclear fuel hand over ceremony (graduation ceremony) for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) has started at the plant site on Wednesday, October 05. The two leaders are joined virtually to the handover event of the Certificate and Model of Nuclear Fuel. Science and Technology Affairs Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman is  present at the function as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi is attended the event virtually. Director General of ROSATOM, Russian Federation Alexei Likhachev also present at Rooppur site.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he believed he could secure bipartisan political backing in the US for a deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday he was positive that a US deal to deliver nuclear powered submarines to Australia was on track.  "I am very confident and spoke with their Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last night," said Albanese to the media.  Austin and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken are in the northeastern Austalian state of Queensland for the annual Australia-US Ministerial Meeting (AUSMIN) dialogue , focusing on the progress of the submarine deal, regional security and clean energy.  Republicans oppose submarine sale  The AUKUS pact, first announced in 2021, is a security alliance between Australia, the US and the UK.  As per the deal, the US is expected to sell three US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. Blinken and Austin are discussing the deal with Albanese and other Australian officials on Friday and Saturday.  Meanwhile, 25 US Republican lawmakers wrote to the US President Joe Bidenthat the submarine sale to Australia would "unacceptably weaken" the US fleet as there is no clear plan to replace them.  Despite this, Albanese expressed confidence about the deal because of the discussions he had with Republicans and Democrats during the NATO summit in Lithuania earlier this month.  He said he was struck by their unanimous support for the US-Australia relationship, which he said has "never been stronger."  Australia to invest in AUKUS deal  As part of the AUKUS deal, Australia has agreed to invest $3 billion (​​€2.7 billion) in the US submarine industrial base.  "There is pressure on the American industrial base. We've well understood that. That's why we'll be making a contribution to it," said Australia's Defense Minister Richard Marles in an interview to Sky television on Friday.  He added that the deal is advantageous to all three parties because Australia will develop an industrial base that will add to the net capability of all three countries.  The AUKUS deal is expected to cost Australia up to $2 billion (​​€ 1.8 billion) over a period of 30 years. Security allies to discuss China amid tensions  Australia is currently reshaping its defense forces in response to China's military build up and plans to boost its long range strike capabilities and domestic missile production.  The US and Australia will also discuss China's security ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region at the AUSMIN summit.  Lloyd Austin said that both Australia and the US were worried about China's attempts to depart from international law. He added that Washington will defend its allies against China's "bullying behavior" in the Pacific.  Ahead of the meeting with Austin, Australia's Defense Minister Marles emphasized that this is the time to be working with allies and "Australia has no better friend than the United States of America." Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also told the media that the US is "indispensable to the balance in the region."

The United States has reaffirmed its support for India's inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group ( NSG ) and is committed to continuing its engagement with like-minded partners to advance this goal. In the joint statement released by US and India, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored the important role that nuclear energy plays in global decarbonisation efforts and affirmed nuclear energy as a necessary resource to address the climate, energy transition and energy security needs of the nations. The two leaders noted the ongoing discussion on developing next-generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode for the domestic market and export. "President Biden and Prime Minister Modi underscored the important role nuclear energy plays in global decarbonization efforts and affirmed nuclear energy as a necessary resource to meet our nations' climate, energy transition, and energy security needs. The leaders noted ongoing negotiations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India," the joint statement released by India and the US reads. It further said, "They welcomed intensified consultations between the US DOE (Department of Energy) and India's DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) for facilitating opportunities for WEC to develop a techno-commercial offer for the Kovvada nuclear project (in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam). "They also noted the ongoing discussion on developing next generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode for the domestic market as well as for export. The United States reaffirms its support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and commits to continue engagement with likeminded partners to advance this goal," the statement read. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of two sets of guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear-related exports. According to the NSG's official statement, the NSG was created after the explosion of a nuclear device by a non-nuclear-weapon state in 1974. The NSG guidelines contain the so-called "Non-Proliferation Principle," adopted in 1994, whereby a supplier, notwithstanding other provisions in the NSG Guidelines, authorises a transfer only when satisfied that the transfer would not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The NSG guidelines are consistent with the various international legally binding instruments in the nuclear non-proliferation sector. Currently, there are 48 members in the Nuclear Suppliers Group which include - Argentina Cyprus, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, Spain Austria, Denmark, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Switzerland Belgium, Finland, Latvia, Romania, Turkey, Brazil, France, Lithuania, South Korea, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, Luxembourg, Russia, UK, Canada, Greece, Malta, Serbia, US, China, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia, Croatia, Iceland, Netherlands and Slovenia.

The US Justice Department accused Trump of putting the country's national security at risk by keeping secret documents at his estate in Mar-a-Lago. The indictment against former US President Donald Trump was made public on Friday, revealing 37 felony charges over his handling of secret documents taken during his time in office. Among the stash of documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home were highly sensitive files on US nuclear capabilities, as well as those of other countries. The various documents came from Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies. "The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States," the Justice Department said. The top charges carry a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years. The former president is set to make his first court appearance on Tuesday in Miami, a day before his 77th birthday. What does the indictment reveal? The 49-page indictment accuses Trump of wilfully ignoring demands from the Justice Department to return the documents he had taken. "I don't want anybody looking through my boxes," the indictment quoted Trump as saying after he received a subpoena in May 2022 over the classified documents in Mar-o-Lago. "Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?" the indictment added. The Justice Department also charged Trump with mishandling sensitive information, giving two examples of when the former president showed secret documents to unauthorized individuals. In one case, Trump — after leaving the White House — allegedly showed someone on his political committee a map detailing a military operation in a foreign country, according to the indictment. In a second example put forward by the Justice Department, Trump allegedly showed a military "plan of attack" to a writer, a publisher and two of his staffers — none of whom had security clearance to view the information. The prosecutors claimed Trump knew that the information was secret and that he "should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close." Alongside Trump, one of his former aides, Walt Nauta, was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and scheming to conceal, among others. He was allegedly seen on a surveillance camera moving boxes believed to contain classified documents. Where did Trump keep the classified documents? According to the indictment, Trump kept some of the classified documents in the bathroom and shower of Mar-a-Lago, among various other rooms of the Florida estate, including a ballroom, storeroom, office and bedroom. Prosecutors noted that "tens of thousands of members and guests" visited the "active social club" of the estate between January 2021, when Trump's presidency expired, and when the FBI search was conducted in August 2022. Who will be trying the former president? US District Judge Aileen Cannon has been initially assigned to the case, a source familiar with the matter said. Cannon could also preside over the trial, which would make her determine the date of the trial as well as Trump's sentence if he were found guilty, among other things. Appointed by Trump in 2019, Cannon made headlines last year after deciding in his favor at a critical stage of the case. The decision was overturned on appeal. What have been the reactions to the indictment? Reactions to the former president's indictment have been pouring since the announcement was made.  US President Joe Biden, who won against Trump in the 2020 race and might face him again in the 2024 vote, denied having spoken to US Attorney General Merrick Garland after the indictment. He added that he had no intention of speaking to the attorney general about it. Jack Smith, special counsel in the case, stressed that US laws which protect national defense information are "critical to the safety and security of the United States and must be enforced," pointing to the risk their violation poses to the country. Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned in comments to Fox News that the charges would "disrupt this nation because it goes to the core of equal justice for all, which is not being seen today. And we're not going to stand for it."

The breached Kakhovka dam is still pumping water to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the IAEA said.  Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy has hailed the "results" of fighting in eastern Ukraine. The breached Kakhovka dam is still supplying Europe's largest nuclear power plant with cooling water, the UN nuclear agency said on Thursday. "Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is continuing to pump cooling water from the Kakhovka reservoir," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement. It followed claims by the dam's operator to Ukrainian TV, saying the reservoir had gone "below the critical point of 12.7 meters (42 feet)." If the claims were true, the reservoir would not have been able to supply Zaporizhzhia's ponds, which are needed to cool the plant. The Nova Kakhovka dam was breached on Tuesday, with both Moscow and Kyiv trading accusations of responsibility for its destruction. Some experts said it might have been due to wartime damage and neglect. Flooding from the breach extends over 600 square kilometers on the Ukrainian-held right bank of the Dnieper River and the Russian-held left bank, the governor of the Kherson region earlier said. Deaths have been reported on both sides due to the flooding, with thousands forced to evacuate. The IAEA said an assessment by its experts indicated that the plant's pumps could likely continue to be operated even at the level of 11 meters or lower. "In these difficult and challenging circumstances, this is providing some more time before possibly switching to alternative water supplies," IAEA head Rafael Grossi said. However, Grossi, who is due to visit the plant next week on a third visit since the war started, warned of the "very precarious and potentially dangerous" safety and security situation around the plant, amid the continuing fighting.  Here are some of the other developments concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Friday, June 9: Zelenskyy hails Donetsk fighting 'results' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has applauded the "results" of heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Zelenskyy spoke during his daily video message, which he delivered late on Thursday aboard a train after visiting areas affected by the Kakhovka dam breach. The president acknowledged the heavy fighting in the Donetsk region. "But there are results, and I am grateful to those who achieved these results. Well done in Bakhmut. Step by step," he said. US to announce fresh $2 billion arms package — reports The United States is preparing to announce a fresh package of arms support to Kyiv worth $2 billion (approximately €1.86 billion), Bloomberg News reported late on Thursday, citing administrative officials. The funds will be presented under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Bloomberg said. The package will include a generous amount of air defense munitions. It's also meant to help Ukraine purchase Hawk missile launchers, alongside two types of advanced Patriot air defense missiles. Biden, Sunak stress 'unwavering support' for Ukraine US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have stressed their "unwavering support" for the people of Ukraine in their fight against the Russian invasion. The two leaders spoke at the White House on Thursday, during Sunak's visit to Biden. "The UK and the US together with more than 50 partners have committed historic levels of security assistance to Ukraine," Biden said after the talks. London and Washington are two of the biggest donors to Ukraine, and they play a central role in a long-term, recently announced effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.