At its General Conference this September, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will consider adoption of an international legal agreement addressing research reactor security, dubbed the Code of Conduct on the Safety of Research Reactors.
The move follows March approval of the code by the IAEA’s Board of Governors and is tied to concerns by the international agency and the United States about the potential proliferation risk posed by many of these aging reactors.
The code is a voluntary set of guidelines for the licensing, construction, and safe operation of civilian research reactors. It originated in 2000 because of increasing international concerns about the safety of many research reactors coming to the end of their useful lifetimes. Unlike other civilian nuclear plants, these reactors were not covered by the Convention on Nuclear Safety, drawn up in the early 1990s.
Much of the diplomatic impetus for a code of conduct stems from concerns over highly enriched uranium (HEU), which has historically been used to fuel research reactors. According to an April 14 IAEA staff report regarding the code, “[J]ust less than half of the world’s 272 research reactors still operate using highly enriched uranium—a key ingredient for a nuclear bomb.” Of particular concern is the use of HEU in non-nuclear-weapons states that have not yet concluded safeguards agreements with the IAEA. Such agreements are intended to ensure that states-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty do not divert civilian nuclear reactors to military purposes.
IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei would like to see all research facilities using HEU to begin irreversibly converting to low-enrichment processes. In his introductory address to the Board of Governors meeting March 8, ElBaradei stated that “the safety of research reactors and the management of research reactor fuel continue to be areas of Agency emphasis.” Referring to the code, ElBaradei stated that “strong support was expressed on this topic, as part of an international effort to harmonize the laws, policies and safety practices related to research reactor management and operation.”