Research Reactor Section

Fuel Cycle, Repatriation and Conversion

The Section's fuel cycle projects are intended to assist Member States with the development and qualification of new research reactor fuels and targets, as well as striving to minimize civilian use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) by converting HEU fuels and targets to low enriched uranium (LEU) and assisting states in dealing with spent nuclear fuel and managing the back-end of fission based medical isotope production processes.

The Section also works on fuel cycle projects in response to recommendations made by the IAEA International Conference on Research Reactors: Safe Operation and Effective Utilization and by the annual international Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) meetings since 2004.

Current Projects

• Research Reactor Core Conversion
  • Working Group on Conversion of MNSRs to LEU
• Transitioning Away from HEU Use in ⁹⁹Mo Production
  • Conversion of fission-based ⁹⁹Mo producers from HEU to LEU
  • New NE Series Publication! Non-HEU Production Technologies for ⁹⁹Mo and ^99mTc
• Support for the Conference on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR)
  • Co-sponsored 2012 2nd International Symposium on HEU Minimization
  • Co-sponsored 2006 International Symposium on Minimization of HEU in the Civilian Nuclear Sector
• Support for the Research Reactor Fuel Management Conference in cooperation with the European Nuclear Society.
• Repatriation of Fresh and Spent HEU Nuclear Fuel to Country of Origin
• New Publication! Management and Storage of Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel
• Research on Uranium-Molybdenum Fuel: IAEA TECDOC forthcoming
  • Consultancy Meeting on Analysis of the Impact of Fuel Density on the Cost of the Research Reactor Fuel Cycle, Q4 2013