Image source: topwar.ru
Three fuel assemblies with low enriched uranium (LEU) have been successfully tested at the Belgian research reactor BR2. The Belgian Center for Nuclear Research (SCK-CEN) plans to completely switch the reactor from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) in 2026.
BR2 is one of the three operational research reactors of the Belgian Nuclear Research Center in Mole, in northeastern Belgium. The BR-2, operating since 1963, is one of the oldest research reactors in Western Europe. The reactor is allowed to operate until the next periodic safety check in 2026, when a decision may be made to extend operation for another 10 years.
The Belgian Nuclear Research Center is developing a completely new type of LEU fuel in close cooperation with the United States, aiming to provide the same characteristics as HEU fuel. In 2026, it is planned to transfer the BR-2 reactor from HEU to a new LEU, if a decision is made to continue operation.
— stated in SCK-CEN.
In highly enriched uranium, almost all atoms can be split. In low-enriched uranium, only one atom out of five is fissile.
The new KNOW-how fuel has already completed several demonstration stages. At the first stage, small samples were tested under moderate conditions with limited power and burnout depth. In the second stage, full-sized individual fuel plates were exposed to higher power and a higher degree of burnout. At the third stage, these fuel plates were included in the composition of future fuel assemblies and tested in real conditions.
The Belgian BR2 accounts for about a quarter of the world's production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial purposes. It also produces doped silicon, which forms a semiconductor material that is the main material for electronic components.
Most of the research reactors in the world were built in the 1960s and 1970s using technology that required HEU with an enrichment level of up to 98% to conduct experiments. HEU targets were also used in the production of medical radioisotopes. However, such HEU can potentially be used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons and is therefore considered a threat to their proliferation. Most of these studies can now be performed using LEU, of which uranium-235 is less than 20%. However, all the statements of the Belgian side that all this is for the sake of security and against the proliferation of nuclear weapons are very doubtful, if only for the simple reason that there is already an American tactical nuclear weapon in Belgium.
