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Sosny, near Minsk
Director: Aleksandr Mikhalevich
Deputy Director: Anatoliy P. Yakushev (Iakoushev)
IPEP is the leading nuclear research institute in Belarus. It was created
in 1989 when the Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering of the Academy
of Sciences was divided into three institutes:
• The Institute for Power Engineering Problems
• The Institute for Physical and Chemical Radiation Problems
• The Institute for Radiation-Ecological Problems
Together, the Institutes form the Sosny Scientific
and Engineering Complex under the Belarusian Academy of Sciences.[1,2]
According to Belarusian nuclear
scientists, the now-restructured Belarusian Institute of Nuclear Power
Engineering (INPE) designed a mobile nuclear power reactor with a 700 kW
capacity (according to Yermashkevich, 630 kW) and created a working model,
called Pamir.[3,4] This reactor was designed for military purposes
and for territories, such as the desert or tundra, where it is difficult
to connect to an electricity grid. This mobile plant was designed to work
in conditions from -50 degrees Celsius to +50 degrees Celsius without any
water resources.[3] The Pamir reactor used uranium enriched to 45
percent U-235 for fuel, with nitrogen tetraoxide for the coolant. Tests
were performed using critical assemblies and the model itself for at least
3500 hours starting in 1985.[3,4,5] Approximately 60 emergency shutdowns
took place, some of which resulted in the release of nitrogen tetraoxide
and radioactive particles.[4] The project was scrapped in 1986 by
a decision of the Belarusian government. Reportedly, the INPE also
worked on a project to develop a fast-breeder reactor. This project was
almost completed in 1985. A site had been chosen and construction was about
to begin when the project was scrapped.[3]
IPEP has been given the lead role in developing a program for the construction
of nuclear power plants in Belarus.
One (decommissioned)
IRT-M
Pool
The reactor initially operated at 2 MW and was upgradedin 1972 to a capacity of 5 MW. However, it never operated at more than
4 MW.
up to 4 kg of U-235, enriched
to 90%
in the form
of fuel rods, pellets and powder
90% enriched HEU: approximately 40 kg [1,2]
Plutonium-239: approximately 14-15g [1,2]
20-89% HEU: approximately 330 kg [1]
in diverse forms
LEU: approximately 94 kg [1,2]
Natural Uranium: approximately 620 kg [1]
Depleted Uranium (about 0.4% U-235): approximately
450 kg [1]
Built in 1957, the IRT reactor first went critical in 1962.[1] The reactor
was shut down in 1988, and decommissioning is in progress.[2,3] According
to an official at IPEP, as of 19 March 1996, decommissioning was nearly
finished, with completion likely to be in June or July 1996. However, this
time frame is contingent upon an additional $300,000-400,000.[4]
Two
Critical Assembly No. 1
Uranium: 234kg enriched to 20%
Non-operational
Critical Assembly No. 2
thermal
HEU: 15kg enriched to 90%
Non-operational
Operations on these critical assemblies are at a halt due to lack of funding.
Fuel from the critical assemblies is being moved to a more secure facility
at Sosny. It has been proposed that the critical assemblies be used for
training purposes.
As the sole repository of civilian fissionable nuclear
materials in Belarus, IPEP has been involved in the international
programs to strengthen Materials Protection Control and Accounting (MPC&A)
standards. In early October 1996, the US and Belarus
announced the completion of
MPC&A upgrades
at the Sosny center.[1,2] It
has been reported that an MPC&A system for liquid and solid wastes
has been established at this facility.[3]
Much of the funding for the upgrading of MPC&A has been provided through
the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR)
program and other international programs.
The
Spent Fuel Storage facility under the Institute of Atomic Energy in Minsk
has fuel assemblies with up to 100kg of U-235 with initial enrichment
in the range of 22-36% and an average burn-up of 30% U-235.[1] All irradiated material
at Sosny is stored in the Iskra storage facility
in a storage pond.[3] Low-level
waste generated during the operation and decommissioning of the IRT-M reactor
is stored in an underground storage facility near Sosny.[4] Spent
fuel from the reactor was sent to Russia for reprocessing (either to Mayak
or the Mining and Chemical Combine).[2,4] Fresh and spent fuel (roughly
110 fuel assemblies--see 2/7-8/98 entry below) from
the Pamir reactor development project is stored at IPEP.[4, 5]
Click
here for more on spent fuel and radioactive waste.
10/28/99: LUKASHENKA PROPOSES CREATING MPC&A CENTER
IN SOSNY
According to a 28 October 1999 report by Radio 1
(Minsk),
during a visit to Minsk by IAEA Deputy Director Jihui
Qian, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka proposed creating a center for
nuclear material protection, control, and accounting at the Sosny Institute
of Power and Engineering Problems. Lukashenka also reiterated his proposal (initially made three years ago)
to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central
and Eastern Europe.[1,2]
2/10/98:
GOVERNMENT DENIES POSSESSING WEAPONS-GRADE MATERIAL
The Belarusian government has
refuted a television report stating that the country currently possesses
over two metric tons of weapons-grade material, making Belarus a "nuclear
threshold" state like India or Pakistan.[1] On 8 February 1998, the
news program "Rezonans" alleged that Belarus has a stockpile of over two
metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium.[2]
Director of the Institute of Energy Problems under the Belarusian National
Academy of Sciences Alyaksandr Mikhalevich stated that Belarus has 15 grams
of plutonium and 500 kg of enriched uranium at Sosny for research purposes
only. (See the listing of fissile materials
above.) The materials are not weapons-grade.[1] An unnamed source
at the IPEP at Sosny stated that there are two metric tons of nuclear waste,
plutonium, and uranium. He said that it is highly unlikely that any
of the material could be used for military purposes since it would require
enrichment, a process which needs a vast amount of technology and expenditure.[3]
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka called the allegations that Belarus is
independently capable of developing weapons "stupid."[4]
2/7-8/98:
FORMER SOSNY DEPUTY DIRECTOR CALLS FOR SENDING ASSEMBLIES BACK
Vasiliy Yermashkevich, a former
deputy director of the Institute of Nuclear Power Engineering, stated in
an article about the Sosny Scientific and Engineering Complex that the
facility is wasting billions of Belarusian rubles to store 110 fuel assemblies
from a failed reactor development project. He called for the
assemblies to be sent to Russia, where they were constructed, so that Sosny
would not have to dedicate any more resources to storing the assemblies.
Yermashkevich states the fuel assemblies were kept "to increase the institute's
prestige" even though they could no longer be used.
2/3/98: LUKASHENKA WANTS TO REVIVE SOSNY RESEARCH
Speaking at IPEP in Sosny,
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that he would like to expand
on the institute's unique research potential. He explained that although
there are only three other nuclear research institutions in the world like
Sosny, the Belarusian government has not exploited its profit-making potential.
Presently Sosny scientists are conducting nine government projects in areas
such as power engineering, energy conservation, and radiation safety.
According to Lukashenka, the Belarusian Security Council and the National
Academy of Sciences will cooperate to increase the areas of research at
the facility.[1] Increased business taxes, profits from alcohol distilling
facilities fabricated and sold by the Sosny Institute, and Lukashenka's
"own personal fund" will fund the Sosny projects and scientists.[2]
7/18/97: SOSNY NEUTRON GENERATOR OPERATIONAL
Belapan reported that the Sosny Research and Technical Facility has put
a highly power neutron generator into operation, a project that took eight
years to complete at an estimated total cost of $1 million. The neutron
generator will be used for research in the areas of nuclear physics, neutron
physics, radiation chemistry, and biology.
Minsk
Belarus State University
Vladimir G. Baryshevsky
Last updated 10 October 2000
Comments or questions? Contact Michael Jasinski at MIIS CNS: Michael.Jasinski@miis.edu
