Russia’s Research Institute for Atomic Reactors (NIIAR – part of Rosatom) in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region, hosted a ceremony marking the controlled assembly of the first research reactor for the Centre for Nuclear Research & Technology (CNRT) in Bolivia. The event was attended by representatives of Rosatom, the government of the Ulyanovsk region, and Bolivian ambassador Maria Luis Ramos Ursagasta. The President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bolivian Legislative Assembly, Herges Mercado Suarez, joined by videolink.

In the very near future, the reactor will be delivered to Bolivia, and this year we will begin its installation at the centre,” said Kirill Komarov. Rosatom’s First Deputy General Director for Development & International Business. “Very recently, the cyclotron complex began operating [at the centre], which significantly expanded the capabilities of Bolivian healthcare, providing it with the most modern radiopharmaceuticals.” He added that the project to construct the centre should be completed by 2025.

The CNRT is being built with Russian assistance in El Alto at an altitude of 4000 metres above sea level. The project is being implemented by the Bolivian Atomic Energy Agency (ABEN in cooperation with JSC GSPI (part of JSC Rusatom Overseas). The first and second stages of construction have been completed – the Centre for Nuclear Medicine & Radiotherapy (CNMR), equipped with a cyclotron (particle accelerator), and the associated multipurpose irradiation centre (MCC), equipped with an industrial gamma plant.

Construction and installation work continues on the third and fourth stages of the centre, which include the reactor complex and laboratory buildings.

In the summer of 2021, first concrete was poured for the building where the first research reactor in Bolivia will be located. The contract for the construction of the CNRT was signed in 2017 but implementation was frozen for several years due to political developments in Bolivia.

The pool-type 200 kW reactor unit was developed by specialists from NIIAR and it will have a service life of 50 years. During the trial assembly, the entire process was reproduced, including the installation of reflector blocks, layouts and simulators of heat-selecting assemblies, regulatory and protection measures, and pipes of the experimental channels to ensure quality control of the manufactured components. The work was carried out jointly with specialists from OKBM Africantov, GSPI and JSC Diacon.

An upgraded core has been developed by NIIAR for the SM-3 high-precision research reactor. “This project, which is so important for both [Russian] domestic and Bolivian nuclear science and technology, involved specialists from several departments of the institute,” said NIIAR Director Alexander Tuzov. “These including employees of the reactor research complex, the design & construction department, and the experimental services.”

Image: Rosatom has finished test assembly of the first research reactor for Bolivia (courtesy of Rosatom)