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By Kim Gyu-won, staff writer
South Korea, the US, France, and Belgium agreed to conduct joint research for the use of a research reactor that uses low-enriched uranium (LEU), instead of highly enriched uranium (HEU) which can be used to make nuclear weapons.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Belgium’s Vice Prime Minister Joelle Milquet, and Chairman of the French Atomic Energy Commission Bernard Bigot issued a press release at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul ,ㅡMarch 27, which provides details on the cooperation. “We are cooperating on utilizing high-density LEU fuel powder production technology as part of an effort to convert research reactors from HEU to LEU,” they said in a joint statement.
Korea will use the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute’s (KAERI) original atomizing technology to produce 100 kilograms of low-enriched uranium-molybdenum (U-Mo) by yearend, using the LEU provided by the US, said Prime Minister Kim. This U-Mo powder will then be shipped to France for the production of high-density U-Mo fuel powder, which will be tested at the advanced research reactors in France and Belgium. Once the technology is approved, the high-density U-Mo fuel tech will be made available to other nations wishing to switch to less risky LEU.
The main purpose of the project is to reduce the amount of HEU available in the civilian sector, which can be used by terrorists to make nuclear weapons.
“We are reducing the availability of highly enriched uranium, a weapons grade useable material, as it reduces the chance of the material falling into the wrong hands,” said US Energy Secretary Chu. The switch from HEU to LEU is happening at a swift rate as more than 200 reactors are already cut off from the highly enriched fuel source, he added.
The four countries stated that changing the reactor fuel to LEU would reduce the possibility of HEU being used to make nuclear weapons. 20 of the world’s 230 research reactors use at least 600 kilograms of HEU. This is enough to make 24 bombs the size of the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The four states’ beginning of joint research reflects their strengths in this field. The US possesses large quantities of enriched uranium, while Korea possesses the technology for manufacturing U-Mo powder, a core part of the necessary technology. France and Belgium have high-performance research reactors, which can be used to verify the performance of nuclear fuels.
　
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