A ceremony has been held at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), marking the shipping of systems and equipment for the construction of a Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) at Thailand’s Suranaree University of Technology. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Secretary-General of Thailand’s Office of Atoms for Peace Ampika Apichaitbukol, Vice-President of Suranaree University of Technology Neung Teaumroong and representatives of China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (CNEI) and the CIAE.
The MNSR is a small-scale research reactor independently designed by CIAE with a rated power of 30 kW. CNNC said it is “radiation safe and environmentally friendly, has low operating power, simple structure, low construction and operation and maintenance costs, and high inherent safety. It is suitable for construction in densely populated areas such as universities, hospitals, and research institutes for scientific research in the nuclear field”.
Representatives of the CIAE said the new MNSR project will fundamentally promote the application and development of relevant technologies and deepen bilateral collaboration on technological innovation, industrial development and personnel training. They hoped that the two sides will conduct in-depth and pragmatic cooperation on the R&D of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) technology and accelerators as well as isotope production, and advance basic research and technological application in relevant fields.
Thai representatives said that Chinese personnel have shown extraordinary technological prowess and quality-management competence since they unveiled the MNSR project in 2015, adding that they look forward to the early arrival of relevant systems and apparatuses and to the closer cooperation with the CNNC in other fields.
Since CIAE built a prototype microreactor in 1984, it has designed and built 10 – five microreactors for China and five for export. Thailand’s microreactor will be the sixth MNSR to be exported. The design of the microreactor and the production of equipment are already completed.
CIAE said the Thai microreactor project is “a model of cooperation between China and Thailand in the field of nuclear energy, which will contribute to the development of the use of research reactor technologies and contribute to the deep integration of the two sides in terms of technological innovation, industrial development and training”.
