The Netherlands’ Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) has granted a licence for construction of the Pallas research reactor at the Petten nuclear site in the north of the country.

Rijkswaterstaat also issued a permit for the intake and discharge of cooling water for the new plant. Rijkswaterstaat is part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and responsible for the design, construction, management and maintenance of the main infrastructure facilities in the Netherlands.

Pallas said ANVS and Rijkswaterstaat issued their licences independently, but the applications were coordinated and ran in parallel.