The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received a license application for export of highly enriched uranium to be used for medical isotope production in Belgium.
The applicant is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, which would provide 6.7 kilograms of uranium-235, contained in no more than 7.2 kilograms of uranium and enriched up to 93.5 percent, to the Institute for Radioelements (IRE), according to the July 21 application.
IRE provides radiochemical products including molybdenum-99 and iodine-131, along with other radiopharmaceutical products.
The license application cites the window of shipments as open from Oct. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2017. “Dates do not reflect actual ship dates,” according to the document. “Time-frame indicated for shipment to support target fabrication, target irradiation and processing schedules to meet one year isotope production demand until conversion to LEU targets.”
At the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, the United States, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands highlighted both the current importance of using HEU medical isotope production and the danger — specifically that the material could be used to manufacture nuclear explosive devices. The four nations pledged to assist conversion of European production away from HEU processes by 2015, and eventually to halt all use of weapon-grade uranium for medical isotope production in the three European states.
Along with the NNSA, the other parties to the HEU export would be Consolidated Nuclear Security, the management and operations contractor at Y-12; AREVA TN International, which would provide transport services in France; and the operators of research reactors in Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Poland, which would conduct target irradiation.
The NRC is also due to rule on a separate application for U.S. export of 134.208 kilograms of uranium-235, in 144 kilograms of uranium and enriched up to 93.2 percent. The material would be delivered to the Studiecentrum Voor Kernenergie (SCK-CEN) for fuel for operation of the organization’s Belgian Reactor No. 2.
