OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2015. Experts discussed issues related to the operation of research reactors at the International Conference on Research Reactors: Safe Management and Effective Utilization, which was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and took place in Vienna, Austria.

Since 2003, the IAEA has been organizing periodic meetings, seminars, symposia and conferences on topics of interest to the research reactor community for share experiences and demonstrate the scientific and technical developments in this field of research reactors. The last such event was held in November 2011 in Morocco. 

The conference addressed issues related to the operation, maintenance, utilization, safety, security, ageing management, decommissioning, spent fuel and waste management of research reactors. The conference was attended by representatives of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, along with other companies, corporations, regulatory bodies and government agencies. 

Currently in Russia operates more than 20% of all active research reactors in the world. All research reactors that have been built according to Russian design have been integrated into the Centers for Nuclear Research. These centers are equipped by an appropriate civil engineering and scientific infrastructure for safe and effective operation of research reactors and have high quality operating and research staff. Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL provides nuclear fuel for research reactors, including research reactors of the Western design, in nine countries. 

As Nikolay Arkhangelskiy, Adviser to the Directorate for Scientific and Technical Complex at Rosatom, noted during his presentation, "Rosatom’s research reactors, whether used for material testing, fundamental research or applied works such as radioisotope production, represent a key part of our activities. Aside from our domestic facilities, Rosatom has unique experience in the development, construction and experimental utilisation of more than 20 research reactors in foreign countries, ranging from 0.5 megawatts to 60 megawatts".

Alexander Tuzov, Director of the “State Scientific Center – Research Institute of Atomic” Reactors (JSC “SSC RIAR”), reported on the progress of the construction of the International Research Center MBIR (multi-purpose research fast neutron reactor) in Russia. During his presentation he emphasized that Rosatom forecasts that after 2020 there will be no other operational research reactors that can compete with the MBIR reactor in terms of technical and economic parameters and research capabilities. For their part, foreign participants expressed great interest in the creation of the International Research Center MBIR that would provide a platform for experimental studies using the unique capabilities of the created reactor, including the ability to continue reactors experiments that were previously started at the BOR-60 and after completing his service life. 

In addition, the conference was attended by Yuri Dragunov (Director and General Designer) and Vyacheslav Lysakov (Assistant Director) from JSC “NIKIET”, who presented the poster presentation 

"The MBIR Reactor: an innovative tool for innovative research and substantiation of advanced designs" as well as a joint report with the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” on the topic of "Reactor PIK: the upgraded core".