Technical Meeting on Commercial Products and Services of
Research Reactors

28 June–2 July, 2010, IAEA, Vienna

The Research Reactor IRT-2000 in Sofia is in process of reconstruction into a low-power reactor of 200 kW under the decision of the Council of Ministers of Republic of Bulgaria from 2001. The reactor will be utilized for development and preservation of nuclear science, skills, and knowledge; implementation of applied methods and research; education of students and training of graduated physicists and engineers in the field of nuclear science and nuclear energy; development of radiation therapy facility. Nuclear energy has a strategic place within the structure of the country’s energy system. In that aspect, the research reactor as a material base, and its scientific and technical personnel, represent a solid basis for the development of nuclear energy in our country. The acquired scientific experience and qualification in reactor operation are a precondition for the equal in rights participation of the country in the international cooperation and the approaching to the European structures, and assurance of the national interests. Therefore, the operation and use of the research reactor brings significant economic benefits for the country. For education of students in nuclear energy, reactor physics experiments for measurements of static and kinetic reactor parameters will be carried out on the research reactor. The research reactor as a national base will support training and applied research, keep up the good practice and the preparation of specialists who are able to monitor radioactivity sources, to develop new methods for detection of low quantities of radioactive isotopes which are hard to find, for deactivation and personal protection. The reactor will be used for production of isotopes needed for medical therapy and diagnostics; it will be the neutron source in element activation analysis having a number of applications in industrial production, medicine, chemistry, criminology, etc. The reactor operation will increase the public understanding, confidence, and support for nuclear energy through common medical applications, and lectures and demonstrations to high-school and university students as well as to the general public.

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