The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week received a new license application for export of U.S. highly enriched uranium to a research reactor in Belgium.
A copy of the June 3 document has been posted online. It cites the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee as the supplier of just over 134 kilograms of uranium-235 in 144 kilograms of uranium enriched to just over 93 percent, with shipment beginning on March 1, 2017, and wrapping up no later than Dec. 31, 2026.
The applicant is the nuclear transportation specialist Edlow International Co., acting on behalf of the Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie (SCK-CEN), which would use the uranium to fabricate fuel for its Belgian Reactor No. 2. The reactor is used for research into the effects of ionizing radiation on reactor components and the production of medical and industrial radioisotopes, according to SCK-CEN.
“The plan is for the amount of fuel requested in this license application to be shipped in increments of up to 5 kg per shipment over a period of 6 years,” Marilena Conde, Edlow vice president for marketing and administration, said in a May 18 letter to NRC licensing officer Andrea Ferkile. “The fuel will be in the form of fuel elements with a neutron absorber. This will allow for fuel fabrication in support of the Belgian Reactor No. 2’s inventory and operations requirements until the conversion of the reactor to [low-enriched uranium] fuel which is currently planned in [calendar year] 2026.”
A previous license application was withdrawn in March as SCK-CEN intended to switch fuel providers, the nongovernmental International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) said at the time.
The new contract application lists the BWXT Nuclear Operations Group as the fuel fabrication provider in the U.S.
The United States most recently sent a corresponding amount of HEU – 93.5 kilograms with 87.3 kilograms of uranium-235 – to the Belgian reactor in 2010, IPFM said on Thursday. It shipped smaller amounts from 2012-2014.
There was no immediate comment from the NRC, NNSA, BWXT, or Edlow on Friday regarding the license application.
Use of weapon-grade uranium in civilian nuclear reactors worldwide has been an ongoing concern, as these sites are seen as more vulnerable to intrusion by terrorists or other rogue actors. The United States has led a global push to convert reactors from using HEU fuel to instead running on more proliferation-resistant LEU fuel.
SCK-CEN said in March that access to its facilities was “strictly limited” and under “increased vigilance” in the wake of the terrorist strikes on the Brussels airport and subway system.
