Fact Sheet: Belgium Nuclear Security Summit

As one of the leaders in nuclear technology development, Belgium’s nuclear program has covered all aspects of nuclear fuel cycle including reprocessing and operated a reprocessing plant between 1966 and 1974.

• Belgium signed the NPT in 1975 as a non-weapons state, but has retained a leading nuclear technology research center and derives over 50% of its energy from nuclear power using 7 power reactors.
• SCK-CEN is one of the largest research centers in Belgium whose mission includes among other areas, the backend of the nuclear fuel cycle, decommissioning of nuclear sites, and countering nuclear proliferation.
• At the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Belgium has announced it will work jointly with the United States to eliminate its excess highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium.
• SCK-CEN has been working closely for the past year with NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), to identify materials that can be transferred to the United States for disposition.
• Belgium and the United States will continue to work together to complete the removal of this material in connection with the Nuclear Security Summit in 2014.

Material quantities and locations are considered sensitive information so cannot be shared at this time.