Rosatom is training 18 young specialists from Bolivia to work at the research reactor of the Centre for Nuclear Research & Technology (TsYaIT – Tsentra Yadernikh Центра Issledovanni i Teknologii), which is being built in the city of El Alto. Their training will shortly begin at the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). Fellows will undergo a training course for positions as operational personnel of the reactor.
The training programme consists of three stages. Theoretical and laboratory-practical parts will be held in Russia at the TPU research reactor, and will last eight months. The third and final stage is planned to take place in Bolivia at the research reactor.
Previous training at TPU was attended by Bolivian specialists who have now become employees of TsYaIT and work in the Multipurpose Centre for Radiation and the Preclinical Cyclotron-Radiopharmacological Complex.
“We are decisively moving forward towards achieving the technological sovereignty of our country,” President Luis Arce in his Telegram channel. “A group of 18 Bolivian fellows it going to Russia to take a specialist course in the operation of a research nuclear reactor. Their dedication and talent open the way for us to the future, which will help the development and implementation of innovations in Bolivia.”
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. The project offers a number of high-tech solutions for a wide variety of sectors of the economy. These include – diagnosis and treatment of cancer, processing of agricultural products in order to ensure its food security, sterilisation of various medical products (including personal protective equipment), research in the field of ecology and rational use of natural resources, study of the properties of various materials, training of specialists in the nuclear industry.
The pool-type 200 kWt SM-3 high-precision research reactor unit was developed by specialists from Russia’s Research Institute for Atomic Reactors (NIIAR – part of Rosatom) in Dimitrovgrad, where a test assembly of the facility was carried out in May 2023. An upgraded core has been developed by NIIAR for the reactor, which will have a service life of 50 years. The target completion date for the construction of the centre’s facilities is 2025.
Researched and written by Judith Perera
