Russia’s Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrate Plant (NZKhK – Novosibirsk Zavode KhimKontsentratov), part of Rosatom’s fuel division TVEL, has manufactured the initial fuel load for the BRR-1 research reactor under construction in Bolivia. The fuel assemblies will be delivered to Bolivia in 2025.
Bolivia’s first research reactor complex will be a key facility as the fourth phase of Centre for Nuclear Research & Technology (TsYaIT – Tsentra Yadernikh Центра Issledovanni i Teknologii), which is being built in El Alto by Rosatom specialists. The TVS VVR-M2 fuel, developed for the BRR-1 by Rosatom scientists, will be able to continue to operate during a maximum design earthquake of 8.7 points on the MSK-64 scale.
“Bolivia is the first country in South America to receive supplies of Russian nuclear fuel,” said Oleg Grigoriev, Senior Vice President for Commerce & International Business at TVEL. “Rosatom has extensive experience building research reactors abroad and traditionally provides them with nuclear fuel throughout their entire life cycle. The Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant has been producing nuclear fuel and its components for research reactors in various regions of the world for 50 years, including for installations of both Russian and foreign design.”
The BRR-1 will produce radioisotopes for medicine, industry and science. It will enable the study of the chemical composition of materials using neutron activation analysis. The reactor will also be the basis for training students in nuclear specialties. The pool-type 200 kWt SM-3 high-precision research reactor was developed by specialists from Russia’s Research Institute for Atomic Reactors (NIIAR – part of Rosatom) in Dimitrovgrad. An upgraded core has been developed by NIIAR for the reactor, which will have a service life of 50 years. The reactor vessel was delivered from Russia and installed in its design position in 2023.
TsYaIT is being built by Rosatom for the Bolivian Atomic Energy Agency (ABEN). The contract for construction was signed in 2017 between JSC GSPI (State Specialised Design Institute, part of Rosatom) and ABEN. The centre is being built at an altitude of 4,000 metres above sea level in El Alto.
As well as the reactor complex, the centre includes a preclinical cyclotron-radiopharmacological complex for the production of radiopharmaceuticals, a multipurpose irradiation centre (MTsO – Mnogotselevoi Tsentr Oblucheniya) for processing agricultural products and sterilising medical devices, as well as a radiobiology and radioecology laboratory. Construction of the first two stages of the centre has already been completed. The cyclotron complex and multi-purpose irradiation centre were put into operation in 2023.
