International collaboration in nuclear decommissioning took a further step with the recent signing of a five-year agreement between UKAEA and the Italian organisation SOGIN. The main areas of cooperation will include facility decommissioning, waste management and site remediation. The organisations will exchange general and specific information on agreed topics and undertake exchange visits by experts.

The signing represents the fourth in a series of recent collaborative agreements between UKAEA and overseas organisations. It has similar arrangements with CEA and EdF in France, and the INEL at Idaho Falls in the USA.