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Alatau village (about 25km from Almaty)[1]
Address: 1 ulitsa Ibragimova, Almaty, Kazakhstan 480082
Telephone: 3272-546467
Fax: 3272-546517[2]
National Nuclear
Center
Director: Kairat Kadyrzhanov
Reactor Head: Petr Chakrov
The Institute of Nuclear Physics includes a branch in Western Kazakhstan
Oblast, the Azgir Radioecology Expedition in Atyrau Oblast,
and the Kurchatov Laboratory at the former Semipalatinsk
Test Site.
The Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Republic of
Kazakhstan was established in 1957 to conduct research in the
field of nuclear and solid-state physics.
The Institute's activities include the following: nuclear technology development; reactor safety research;
radiation materials
studies; solid-state radioactive physics research; electron beam
research; monitoring of radiation levels in Kazakhstan, including Semipalatinsk
and sites in Western Kazakhstan; nuclear physics applications in the fields of geology,
industry, agriculture, and medicine; isotope production for medical
and industrial use;[1] and analyses of radioactive cargo seized by Kazakhstani
customs.[2] In addition to the reactor,
the facility includes hot cells (for work with highly radioactive substances),
a cyclotron, and seven laboratories.[3] (Please
click the links for photographs
of the Institute's cyclotron,
electron accelerator, and
UPK accelerator.)
One
VVR-K. (Please click the links for photographs of
the reactor room)
light water-moderated, water-cooled
reactor;[1] enclosed vessel.[2]
6MW
The VVR-K reactor core loading is 4.46kg of 36% HEU.[1] The Institute of Nuclear Physics has
enough fresh fuel stocks to run the VVR-K reactor until at least 2011.[2]
Operational
The Institute of Nuclear Physics participates in the US Department of Energy MPC&A
Program. Material accounting
systems installed
in collaboration with US experts include electronic scales, a gamma spectroscopy
system, computer equipment, and Automated Inventory
Accounting System (AIMAS) software, which was customized to match the facility
operations.[1] Physical protection upgrades, including metal and nuclear material detectors,
hardened portals and access points, and alarm and communications systems,
were also implemented.[2] According to the US
Department of Energy, MPC&A
upgrades at Alatau were completed in October 1998.[3] In the spring
of 1999, the DOE transferred responsibilities for long-term support of
MPC&A responsibilities at the VVR-K reactor in Alatau to the International
Safeguards Office. For more information on
MPC&A activities at the Institute of Nuclear Physics VVR-K research reactor, please see the Department
of Energy's September 1998 document,
Partnership
for Nuclear Security: United States/ Former Soviet Union Program of Cooperation
on Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting.
Fresh and spent reactor fuel and other nuclear material in bulk form is
stored in cooling ponds in the VVR-K reactor building.[1,2] The
Institute of Nuclear Physics has sufficient storage capacity to accommodate
spent fuel likely to be generated until 2011.[3] As of 1996 there
were plans to move the spent fuel to dry storage. Deputy
Director of the National Nuclear Center Zhenis Zhotabayev felt that sending
the spent fuel for reprocessing in Russia was unrealistic because of high
expenses and the absence of storage facilities in Kazakhstan for the high
level waste which would be received back from Russia.[2]
During the
Soviet era, the VVR-K reactor was part of the Institute of Nuclear
Physics. After Kazakhstani independence in 1991, administrative oversight
for the reactor was transferred to the Institute of Atomic
Energy. On 1
July 2000, the reactor was transferred back to the Institute of Nuclear
Physics, to which it originally belonged.[1] Criticality was first reached in
1967.[2] The reactor was shut down in
1988 following the earthquake in Armenia, due to its location in a seismic
zone, in order to make improvements in equipment and nuclear safety. Using
recommendations from the IAEA and other international groups, reactor safety
has been upgraded. The Kazakhstani Atomic Energy Agency granted permission
for the reactor to be restarted in December 1997, following the completion
of seismic retrofitting.[3] The reactor is now expected to be able to withstand
an earthquake of up to 9 points on the Richter scale. Research carried
out at this facility has included fundamental physics, cold neutron nuclear
physics, nuclear spectroscopy, applied work in nuclear energy, and research
work for the medicine and agricultural fields.[4]
One (Please click the link to
see a photograph of the critical
assembly.)
Critical assembly or a low power reactor, pool type, water-moderated
100W
Uranium (UAl4 alloy) enriched to 36% U-235
Designed to investigate the characteristics of VVER reactor cores.
2/11/2003: FIRST TECHNOPARK TO BE
BUILT IN ALATAU
On 11 February 2003, the Kazakhstani government
announced plans to build an information technology park in Alatau.
The new park, which will feature an industrial laboratory, office building,
and modern computer and telephone networks, will be given tax breaks and customs
privileges. According to Kazakhstani Minister of Energy and Mineral
Resources Vladimir Shkolnik, Alatau was chosen because of its potential to
attract capital and new technologies. Alatau has a large scientific community
and is located near the former Kazakhstani capital, Almaty, which has numerous
scientific and design institutes.[1,2]
1/2003: NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS ON
TOKAMAK
On 20 January 2003,
the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy
(Minatom)
informed RIA Novosti that Kazakhstan and Russia plan to jointly
build a Tokamak thermonuclear experimental research complex in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
to be
put into operation by the end of 2006. Plans for collaborative work on the
Tokamak complex were spelled out in a protocol signed in Moscow on 17 January
2003 during a Russian-Kazakhstani nuclear working group meeting. According
to RIA Novosti, Minatom officials emphasized that the construction will be monitored
by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).[1,2] On 21 January 2003, however, Yuriy Sokolov,
the head
of Minatom's Nuclear Science and Engineering Department, told ITAR TASS
that there is no agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia to build a Tokamak
complex, only a request from Kazakhstan to Russia's
Kurchatov Institute
to assist with certain technical issues related to Tokamak. According to
Sokolov, Tokamak
facilities do not fall under the purview of
Gosatomnadzor and there will be
no need for IAEA monitoring. Russian legislation
does not prohibit the transfer of technical documentation for this type of
construction as fissile material
is not involved. The total cost of the Tokamak complex is estimated at $15.2
million.[3]
9/16/2002: KAZAKHSTANI NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS TO SUPPLY US WITH DIAGNOSTIC
RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS
At a 16 September 2002 conference in Almaty, officials from the
Los
Alamos National Laboratory and the Kazakhstani Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP)
signed an agreement that aims to increase potentially scarce supplies of medical isotopes
in the United States. Under the agreement, the Los Alamos
National Laboratory will provide INP with equipment to produce
medical isotopes (germanium-68, technetium, and thallium), which later will be
sold to the US contractor Technology Commercialization International for use in the
US medical market. According to an article in Government Executive Magazine, the project will
receive $1.1 million over three years from the
Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program, along with matching funds from
Technology Commercialization International.[1] According to an article in
Ekspress K, the project is intended to last for eight years, and will cost
the US side $8-10 million. INP Director Kayrat Kadyrzhanov noted that the
project is in the interest of both countries, as Kazakhstan lacks equipment to
produce medical isotopes, while the United States lacks raw materials.[2] According to a US
Energy Department official, the project will create long-term peaceful
employment for former weapons scientists in Kazakhstan. The official
also noted that the demand for radiopharmaceuticals in the United States is growing quickly,
as health care institutions are increasingly using them in diagnostic
technologies.[1]
5/10/2001: TOKAMAK TO BE BUILT IN
KAZAKHSTAN
At an international forum on nuclear fusion held 10-12 May
2001 in Astana, Kazakhstani Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Mineral
Resources Vladimir Shkolnik discussed a joint Kazakhstani-Russian project to
construct a tokamak in Kurchatov, Kazakhstan known as the Kazakhstan Tokamak for
Material Testing (KTM).[1] The KTM in
Kazakhstan is designed to model the interaction of plasma and materials under
conditions expected in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
project.[2] ITER is a collaboration between the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom), Japan, and Russia. Kazakhstan and Canada are also
involved through Russia and Euratom, respectively.[3,4] KazNIPIEnergoprom will be the general designer
of the KTM, which will be constructed from 2001-2004 at an estimated cost of
$12-14 million.[1,5]
12/13/2000: NATIONAL NUCLEAR CENTER (NNC)
STARTS COMPUTER PRODUCTION
The Kazakhstani National Nuclear
Center (NNC) has begun to produce personal
computers at the Institute of Nuclear Physics facility in Alatau. A
quarter of the electronic components for these computers is produced in
Kurchatov, where the US government provided almost $4 million to set up a
joint venture, called KK
Interconnect, between the NNC and the US-based KRAS Corporation under the CTR Industrial
Partnerships program and the Defense
Enterprise Fund.
10/99: REACTOR SAFETY, Y2K READINESS QUESTIONED
In October 1999 the staff at the Institute of Nuclear Physics VVR-K research reactor analyzed
the reactor's Y2K readiness, and noted that they needed assistance in order
to make some corrections. Further information was not given.[1]
Reactor safety was questioned further in a 27 October article in Vremya
Po which detailed difficulties in staffing the Institute of Atomic
Energy, as well as several safety violations at the research reactor:
in the fall of 1998 a tank used to transport liquid radioactive waste was
discovered missing; soon after, equipment for monitoring cracks in the
reactor's pipes was ruined when it was thrown on top of a waste site; and
in 1999 several people fell into radioactive ash [sic] and were seriously
burned.[2] (The source does not specify the composition of the "ash," nor
whether the cause of the burns was thermal or radioactive in nature.)
6/99: RADWASTE TANK STOLEN, DISCOVERED IN DISTILLERY
On 23 June 1999 the Institute of Nuclear Physics discovered that a 2MT
tank used to transport liquid radioactive waste was missing.[1,2]
On 24 June Khabar television reported
that the tank had been found on Institute territory.[3] However,
on 30 June Interfax-Kazakhstan reported that the tank was found on the
grounds of the Kauser (Kausat) distillery (or winery) near Almaty.
Distillery management had acquired the tank from a private individual two
months previously. According to some estimates, background radiation
around the tank's surface exceeded permissible levels by a factor of 20.[2]
(For more information on this case, please see the 24
June 1999 entry in the NIS
Nuclear Trafficking Database.
9/14-17/98: CONVERSION OF THE VVR-K RESEARCH REACTOR
While discussing conversion of the Institute of Atomic Energy's VVR-K research
reactor, the authors of a presentation at the 2nd
International Conference on Non-Proliferation Problems held from 14-17
September 1998 noted the need to alleviate budgetary problems and to bolster
government support for the project. The government of Japan financed ISTC
project K-012, which allowed the reactor to restart after a nine-year shutdown.
A number of joint research projects were proposed to support the facility,
including a study of reactor safety in seismic areas, design of dry storage
vaults for spent fuel in seismic areas, development of procedures for disposal
of highly radioactive waste in seismic areas, and development of a continuous
seismic monitoring system for the VVR-K reactor. Researchers have attempted
to manufacture medical isotopes at the facility but need additional funds
for technical changes necessary to do so.
2/25/98: JAPAN DONATES EQUIPMENT TO INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS
The government of Japan has donated scientific and medical research equipment
worth $1 million to the Institute of Nuclear Physics as part of a collaboration
on denuclearization the two countries initiated in March 1994. The
donation included electron spin resonance (ESR) equipment and instruments
for measuring radiation in soil and in animals' teeth. At a ceremony to
mark the official transfer of equipment held in Almaty on 25 February 1998,
Sergey Pivovarov, manager of the Institute's magnetic resonance laboratory,
said that the equipment would be useful for studying the full effects of
nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.
1/98: VVR-K REACTOR AT ALATAU BROUGHT
BACK ON LINE
In January 1998, the VVR-K nuclear research reactor
began producing energy. Four kilograms of U-235 have been placed in the
reactor core. Another three kilograms of fuel will be required to bring
the reactor up to its projected operating level.[1] The Kazakhstani
Atomic Energy Agency granted permission to resume operations at the VVR-K
reactor in Alatau in December 1997. A commission including representatives
from the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Ecology, the Ministry
of Health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Nuclear Center,
and other organizations made the final decision. The VVR-K reactor,
which is located only about 30km from Almaty, was shut down in 1989 in
accordance with seismic safety requirements. After retrofitting and upgrades,
the reactor core can now withstand an earthquake of up to 9 or 10 points
on the Richter scale without emitting radioactivity, according to Sergey
Krechetov, Deputy General Director of the KAEA.[2]
7/97: NONDESTRUCTIVE ASSAY ENHANCES MPC&A AT ALATAU AND KURCHATOV
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has provided nondestructive
assay techniques and systems to upgrade material protection, control, and
accounting (MPC&A) at the Institute of Atomic Energy facilities at
Kurchatov and Alatau. MPC&A equipment has been delivered to Kurchatov
and Alatau, and activities at these facilities are essentially complete.
However, the United States still needs to provide on-site training for
gamma spectroscopy systems at these two sites, and some follow-up is predicted
as the sites adjust to new equipment and procedures. The sites require
calibration materials, which will be provided by New Brunswick Laboratory
after Kazakhstani regulatory approval.
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