Vietnam to Join International Consortium for Russia's MBIR Fast Neutron Research Reactor

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Rosatom State Corporation (ROSATOM) announced on September 9 that Vietnam will join the international research center consortium based on the MBIR fast neutron research reactor. The Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (Vinatom) has been designated as the lead organization representing Vietnam in the project.

The relevant cooperation arrangements were officially announced at a cooperation document exchange ceremony held during the Russia-Vietnam Science and Technology Forum. The Vietnamese side considers participation in the consortium an important measure for developing its national nuclear science, nuclear technology, and related talent pool. After joining the project, Vietnamese researchers will have access to an advanced 150 MW-class research facility to conduct research in reactor physics, radiation materials science, and other fields.

Tran Chi Thanh, Director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, stated that participation in the project will enable Vietnamese research institutions to gain more direct access to unique experimental platforms and expand their research capabilities; it is also an important step in enhancing the ability of Vietnamese physicists and nuclear engineers to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Vasily Konstantinov, CEO of the project company MCI MBIR LLC, stated that Vietnam's accession to the consortium is an important step in expanding the project's international cooperation framework, and the Vietnamese side has shown a clear willingness to conduct joint research based on the MBIR reactor.

The MBIR is a sodium-cooled multipurpose fast neutron research reactor with a thermal power of 150 MW, located in Dimitrovgrad, Russia, and constructed by JSC SRC RIAR (the State Research Center—Research Institute of Atomic Reactors), a subsidiary of Rosatom State Corporation. The reactor is part of Russia's national technology leadership project "New Atomic Energy Technologies."

The project side states that once completed, the MBIR will become one of the research reactors with the highest neutron flux in the world, and can be used for experimental research, radioisotope production, manufacturing of modified materials, and testing of new equipment and process systems. Its high-performance conditions can support parallel simulation of operating conditions of multiple advanced nuclear energy systems, providing an experimental basis for the development of dual-component nuclear energy systems, closed nuclear fuel cycles, and safe fourth-generation nuclear power technologies.

At present, the installation of the main circuit equipment of the MBIR reactor is underway. The project has completed the installation of the main process equipment of the sodium storage facility, and the spent fuel assembly loading mechanism and the steam-water cleaning device have been delivered; welding of the heat pipe joints for the reactor pressure vessel and the first batch of pipeline units has also begun. According to the plan, the cold filter of the emergency residual heat removal system circuit will be installed in its design position in 2025; in 2026, two emergency heat exchangers, each weighing 7.3 tons, 5 meters high, and 1.5 meters in diameter, will be installed in place.

The international research center consortium is established on the basis of the MBIR reactor, and members can obtain priority access to the facility for experiments related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The consortium has already admitted members including the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and China Shanghai Zhongdan International Co., Ltd.