Belgium, US transform research reactors and facilities into international training centers

A joint effort on behalf of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN and the U.S. Department of Energy Idaho, Oak Ridge National Laboratories is opening these research centers to members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The announcement is part of an international scientific training effort on the peaceful use of nuclear power, announced by the IAEA General Conference. That conference designated both facilities as International Centres based on Research Reactor (ICERR).

“The IAEA ICERR scheme helps IAEA Member States access state-of-the-art facilities and so achieve their national nuclear research and development and capacity building objectives,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said. “Through advanced training, ICERRs foster knowledge, build nuclear competence and develop nuclear safety culture.”

The announcement puts the two facilities in the same category as The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and the Russian Federation’s Research Institute of Atomic Reactors. All member states are eligible to participate, granting nations without nuclear research reactors the capability to research reactor infrastructure and conduct nuclear R&D. Bilateral agreements bind members, with the IAEA facilitating.

In both cases, the Belgian research reactor BR2 and Idaho National Laboratory’s Advance Test Reactor are among the most versatile and powerful research and test reactors in the world.