The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has withdrawn a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on behalf of the Belgian Nuclear Research Center (SCK-CEN), for the export of 134 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, according to correspondence shared with NS&D Monitor between the NRC and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
A Feb. 29 letter from the NNSA to the NRC said that the SCK-CEN, which researches radioactivity and its peaceful applications, notified the NNSA of changes in its business plans that “significantly change the information” in the U.S. agency’s December 2014 export license application. The NNSA then requested that the application be withdrawn. In a March 14 response, the NRC said it was returning the application that it would not refund the $18,200 licensing fee because it had already started processing the application.
The letter noted the uranium was to be sent to the AREVA CERCA facility in southeastern France for fuel fabrication, after which it would be sent to Belgium for use in the Belgian Reactor 2 fuel reload at SCK-CEN. 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.
Access to the SCK-CEN is currently “strictly limited” and under “increased vigilance” due to this week’s terrorist attacks at the Brussels airport and metro, according to an announcement released by the institution. Media reports revealed last month that a man with suspected links to last November’s Paris attacks was in possession of surveillance footage of a Belgian SCK-CEN nuclear researcher, although the institution’s withdrawal of its license application does not appear to be tied to these concerns.
