Abstract:
The Report gives description of the current status of PIK reactor that is under construction at Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute. Powerful research reactor has thermal neutron flux
of 5.1015n/cm2sec.
Plans of complete construction work and putting reactor PIK in operation are considered. Second part of report gives results of critical experiments supported reactor first criticality program.
In the past years the reactor construction has been financed at a poor level less then 200 million rubles annually. All this time we press for remarkable increase and prepare three construction phases to finalize design. At present time Government approved the decision of finalizing reactor PIK construction on year 2012 and of financing all the rest of PIK estimate sum.
The equipment for the first phase is about 90% mounted. Practically all subsystems of the primary coolant circuit are completed. Water test on these systems and primary coolant circuit itself begins. Electrical and instrumentation systems are also tested. Fire control system and physical protection systems for the first phase are partly in operation.
On the reactor full-scale critical facility startup core are examined.
The PIK reactor features high experimental potential not only due to the high intensity neutron beam, which is approximately by one order higher than that at the existing mediumpower reactors, but due to availability of the sources of hot, cold and ultra cold neutrons as well. Therefore, compared with the research reactors created in 50-60s, the PIK reactor wil give unique opportunities for extending the neutron beam research activities conducted currently in Russia, as well as for launching new researches that are technically impossible at the moment.