Research reactor

Like power reactors, the core needs cooling, typically natural or forced convection with water, and a moderator is required to slow the neutron velocities and enhance fission.

[2][3] By that time, the U.S. had supplied research reactors and highly enriched uranium to 41 countries as part of its Atoms for Peace program.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Energy extended its Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance program until 2019.

[4] As of 2016, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report concluded converting all research reactors to LEU cannot be completed until 2035 at the earliest.

In part this is because the development of reliable LEU fuel for high neutron flux research reactors, that does not fail through swelling, has been slower than expected.