Popis: |
Over more than fifty years, many research reactors were built to Russian designs both at home and abroad, which is a considerable contribution to the world reactor engineering. Russian research reactors proved to be successful to an extent that it was found possible to raise their capacity and to extend the range of their application. Though having a fairly long operating record, the majority of Russian research reactors are far from the end of their service life and are still in active use. In 2000, the “Strategy of nuclear power development in Russia in the first half of the 21st century" [1] was elaborated and officially approved. The requirements of national nuclear power and the possible ways of its development identified in this document called for assessing the existing research capabilities. The findings of such assessment are presented in this report. The main conclusion lies in the following. On the one hand, the number and experimental capabilities of domestic research reactors are sufficient for coping with the objectives of research in reactor materials, and on the other hand, retrofitting and upgrading appear to be the most expedient way of managing the operation of research reactors in the near term. Activities are under way to upgrade and extend the service life of multipurpose reactors, such as MIR-M1, SM-3, IRV-1M, BOR-60, IVV-2M, and others. The Federal Agency of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (Rosatom) supports the development of reactors intended for fundamental research with the use of neutron beams. To this end, Rosatom renders financial and professional support with a view to complete the PIK reactor construction at PIYaF and the IBR-2 reactor upgrades at JINF. In a longer term, the development of research reactors in Russia is expected to have the following pattern: - a small number of high-flux testing reactors with up-to-date experimental facilities located on the sites of the existing research centers; - PIK reactor, catering to domestic and foreign needs for beam experiments related to nuclear physics, physics of condensed matter and other fundamental investigations; - pulse reactors; - look-out for ADS which has been increasingly attracting interest of late and may prove competitive with research reactors as neutron sources for some applications. This report discusses the results of new engineering developments for the reactors to be retrofitted or upgraded, as well as for the associated various experimental facilities: • IREN; • Steam-water loop PVP-3 (reactor MIR-M1); • Medical channel for BNCT (reactor IRT, MIFI). Another problem faced by Russian experts lies in deciding on the type and design of a high- powered versatile research reactor of the next generation. They have 5-10 years to solve this problem. But Russia is also ready for cooperation in developing a new research reactor, which can be built in Europe to replace the old facilities that will have to be decommissioned. International Atomic Energy Agency |