2024
The President of the Argentine National Commission of Atomic Energy (CNEA, in Spanish) Germán Guido Lavalle, welcomed this morning the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Dr. Guillermo Francos, and the Deputy Chief, Eng. José Rolandi, on the occasion of the installation of the reflector tank at the RA-10 Multipurpose Reactor. Together with national authorities from the CNEA and nuclear sector companies, they toured the facilities of what will be the largest radioisotope-producing reactor in Latin America at the Ezeiza Atomic Center.
“Our country has always been distinguished among the nuclear-capable countries in the world,” said Francos. “This reactor is an important breakthrough for the development and growth of science. A project of this nature is a source of pride for all Argentines.”
For his part, the president of the CNEA, Guido Lavalle, thanked the national government for its support and said: “To carry out this type of first-class technological projects in the world, which serve the country, medicine, and industry, support from the national government is necessary, as well as trained people who have the capacity to carry them forward.”
RA-10 will ensure that Argentina is self-sufficient in radioisotopes, the main input for nuclear medicine and widely used in industry and agriculture. It will also open an attractive export window.
“This is a project whose investment returns, not only in terms of capabilities, but economically. There is a worldwide demand for molybdenum and doped silicon and RA-10 will generate exports of 80 to 100 million dollars per year. In this way we will return the investment made by the national government,” said Guido Lavalle. And he stressed that this milestone celebrated this Friday is due to the “continuous work and effort of scientists and technologists of the National Atomic Energy Commission for decades.”
The RA-10 Project Manager, Eng. Herman Blaumann, also thanked the national authorities and visitors from organizations and companies of the nuclear sector for their presence and detailed the progress of the work. “We are anticipating the implementation of the RA-10 reactor by the end of next year”, he said. “The civil works is finished and all components are assembled. Nuclear provisions, fuels, protection systems, and nuclear instrumentation are underway, as well as the installation of all mechanical assembly fronts, ventilation, electrical systems, and instrumentation. In addition, we have a staff of operators in training”, he explained.
International projection
In joint operation with the Fission Radioisotope Production Plant, RA-10 has the production capacity to supply 20% of the world’s demand for radioisotopes, with exports estimated at 90 million dollars annually. It will also make it possible to offer the world market other high value-added commercial products such as doped silicon, a critical input for the energy transition, and the irradiation service for power reactor fuel rods. In scientific terms, it is positioned as the main regional player in R&D in thermal and low-temperature neutrons and, due to the laboratories it will have associated, it will become a unique science and technology complex in the region, which will open a new horizon in the national scientific-technological system.
The reflector tank, installed this week, together with the core, form the “heart” of the reactor. It is its most complex component. Its function will be to provide an adequate volume with low energy neutrons in a structure capable of containing the devices that will allow to take advantage of these neutrons in the different applications foreseen in the facility.
The tank weighs 2,540 kilograms, is 2 meters in diameter and 1 meter high and its construction required 32 months of work. It is a unique piece of engineering and is made of a zirconium alloy (Zircaloy), a material that optimizes the number of neutrons in its interior. Its design was defined based on the requirements of future reactor users and their implications in terms of volumes, neutron flux and operating conditions. It was manufactured by INVAP at the Bariloche Atomic Center and crossed hundreds of kilometers of roads in March to reach the Ezeiza Atomic Center.
The first installation step was to place it inside the reactor pool, and then the assembly of the internal components proceeded. Once this work is completed, the pool will be filled and pre-operational tests leading to the start-up of the reactor are expected to begin in July 2025.
RA-10 is projected to be fully operational in 2026. It will have as an associated facility the Argentine Laboratory of Neutron Beams (LAHN, in Spanish), where advanced research techniques useful in the fields of basic sciences, health and industry can be developed. It will also have a Laboratory for the Study of Irradiated Materials (LEMI, in Spanish), which will allow the CNEA to expand its capabilities to produce and qualify new fuels and components for future experimental and power nuclear reactors.
The Fission Radioisotope Production Plant (PPRF, in Spanish) and the Industrial Plant for Fuel Elements for Research Reactors (PIECRI, in Spanish) complete the hub. These facilities, centered at RA-10, will form a unique, state-of-the-art center in Latin America, providing services to scientists from all over the world for the most diverse research.
With the RA-10, our country will be at the forefront of the development of this type of reactors, following a line of technological evolution whose origins date back to the 60’s and whose immediate reference is the OPAL Reactor, built for Australia in 2007, reaffirming its place as a world reference in nuclear technology.
Authorities from the Chief and Deputy Chief of Cabinet, Foreign Ministry, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET, in Spanish), the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, INVAP, and the companies associated with CNEA participated in today’s visit: Conuar, Dioxitek and Nucleoeléctrica Argentina; and CNEA‘s staff.
RA-10 in numbers:
- CIVIL WORKS: 100% finished
- ACCUMULATED GLOBAL PROGRESS: 80%
- 1,000,000 working hours invested
- 10,000 technical documents produced
- 80 participating companies
- 90% of supplies are national provision
- INVESTMENT UP TO DATE: 370 million dollars
- BEGINNING OF IMPLEMENTATION STAGE: END OF THE YEAR 2025
