NRG, operator of the high-flux research reactor (HFR) at Petten in the Netherlands is aiming to restart the facility on 17 March following a review of a proposed startup plan by its reactor safety committee and the Dutch nuclear safety authority ANVS.

Nuclear Medicine Europe, the Brussels-based industry association for medical isotope manufacturers and customers, said its emergency response team held a call on 14 February about the unplanned outage at the HFR that resulted in cancellation of its first planned operating cycle of 2022.

NRG, which operates the HFR on behalf of European Union’s Joint Research Centre, said in January that operators discovered a technical failure in the HFR’s cooling system during startup preparations for the plant, but there was no risk to staff or environment.