First nuclear fuel produced for Bolivia's research reactor

Monday, 28 October 2024

The nuclear fuel for the first load at the research reactor being built in Bolivia has been manufactured and accepted, with delivery of the first batch of fuel assemblies planned for 2025.

The reactor vessel arrived at El Alto last year (Image: Lucho Arce)

The TVS VRR-M2 fuel has been produced at TVEL's Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant, which is part of Russia's Rosatom. The BR-01 research reactor is expected to produce radioisotopes for scientific research as well as being used in materials studies and for training purposes. 

The pool-type 200 kW pressurised water research reactor, developed by Russia's Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, is designed to have a service life of 50 years and is part of a Russian-Bolivian project to create a nuclear research and technology centre at El Alto, at an altitude of more than 4000 metres.

The research reactor vessel was delivered and installed in its design position in 2023. It will be the world's highest altitude research reactor.

Oleg Grigoriyev, Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business at Rosatom's fuel division TVEL, said Bolivia was the first South American country to use Russian nuclear fuel, adding: "Rosatom has vast experience in construction of research reactor facilities abroad and traditionally provides them with nuclear fuel throughout their entire service life. The Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant has been producing nuclear fuel and its components for research reactors in various regions of the world for already 50 years, including facilities of both Russian and foreign design."

The Cyclotron Preclinical Radiopharmacy Complex at the El Alto centre is already up and running, and will produce a line of pharmaceuticals to provide the necessary supplies for the network of Bolivian nuclear medicine centres, intended to allow Bolivians to get quicker and higher quality diagnosis and treatment without having to travel abroad. The Multipurpose Irradiation Centre has also been completed.

Rosatom announced the signing of the contract with the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency in September 2017 for the construction of the nuclear research and technology centre in El Alto. Construction of the facility began in July 2021. The projected completion deadline for the centre's facilities is 2025.