Belgian regulators OK isotope residue facility

The project continues a long-standing partnership between SCK-CEN and its sister company, the National Institute for Radio Elements (IRE), to recover useable material from residues from the production of medical radioisotopes through the RECUMO (Recovery of Uranium from Mo-99 Production) project. The recovered low-enriched uranium can then be reused as fuel for research reactors or as targets for radioisotope production. According to SCK-CEN, this contributes to the security of supply of medical radioisotopes, as well as managing the residues in line with Belgian waste standards while reducing nuclear proliferation risks.

IRE produces medical radioisotopes - mainly molybdenum-99 and iodine-131 - from uranium targets irradiated by SCK-CEN, which operates three research reactors at Mol in north-east Belgium. Radioactive residues from the production process have previously been stored at IRE's Fleurus site.

SCK-CEN has now received a construction and operation licence from Belgium's Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) and environmental permits from the Flemish Region. The regulatory approvals, which were granted following a public inquiry, mean that SCK-CEN can now start construction of the facility at Mol where the residues are to be treated.

Construction is scheduled to begin this autumn, and to be completed in 2025, SCK-CEN Director General Eric van Walle said. "Thanks to the RECUMO project, Belgium will be anchoring its extensive nuclear knowledge and strengthening its leading position in the production of medical radioisotopes."

The facility is expected to process residues until 2038.