The Obama administration, in proposing to export highly enriched uranium (HEU) to Europe, may violate a nonproliferation agreement it made in 2012 to move away from using HEU for European medical isotope production, according to a Sept. 7 letter sent by a group of nuclear experts to the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The letter expressed “deep concern” about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) July application to the NRC for export of 7.2 kilograms of HEU enriched up to 93 percent to France for the fabrication of targets that would then be irradiated in reactors in the Netherlands and other European nations and processed for medical isotope production in Belgium.
This proposal violates a commitment made by the U.S., Belgium, Netherlands, and France at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to support converting European production away from HEU processes by 2015 and eventually eliminate the use of HEU for medical isotope production in those European states, according to the letter.
“The proposed export would violate this multilateral nonproliferation commitment by perpetuating full-scale use of HEU targets by [the Institute for Radioelements in Belgium] beyond 2017, more than two years after the agreement declared it would end,” according to the experts.
NNSA’s proposal, it said, would undermine nuclear security efforts by prolonging HEU use at civilian facilities in Europe; weaken HEU minimization norms; and undermine the credibility of Nuclear Security Summit commitments. “If the United States, the originator and leader of the summits, can violate its own commitment, why should other countries feel bound by theirs?” it said.
The letter was signed by 30 experts, including Miles Pomper, a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center; Victor Gilinsky, a former NRC commissioner; and Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.
The NNSA’s application was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 15, with a public comment period that will end on Sept. 14. NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said by email that the commission is reviewing the export application and that it “will consider this letter along with all other public comments we receive.”
NNSA spokeswoman Leslie Velarde noted by email that the United States and the European Supply Agency issued a statement at this year’s Nuclear Security Summit declaring Euratom member states would return to the U.S. or downblend a quantity of HEU greater than the total quantity provided by the U.S. to Euratom facilities for civilian applications. “This will decrease the overall balance of HEU in circulation, while providing critical support for ongoing production of critical medical isotopes,” Velarde said.
The latest declaration builds upon the 2012 joint statement, she said, and although the Netherlands and Belgium did not fully convert their Mo-99 production processes by 2015 as initially planned, “both countries initiated and are currently executing technically complex LEU conversion projects that require multiple regulatory approvals in a number of different countries.”
“While working to eliminate the use of HEU in Mo-99 production, NNSA is fully committed to ensuring a reliable Mo-99 supply because this critical medical isotope is used in 50,000 medical procedures each day in the United States,” Velarde said. “The export of HEU to Belgium for medical isotope production and NNSA’s continued robust support for our European partners’ LEU conversion projects support those dual objectives.”
