Activities Structure Fissile Material MPC&A Reactors Subcritical Assemblies

LOCATION: Moscow
Address:  31 Kashirskoye shosse, Moscow 115409
Telephone:  (095) 324-84-17
["Instituty," Moskovskiye VUZy webpage, http://www.lora.sitek.ru/institute.htm#9.] {Entered 10/14/99 MLB}
HOMEPAGE: http://www.mephi.ru
SUBORDINATION:  Ministry of Education
[NISNP Correspondence with Russian Nuclear Scientist, 11 October 1999, RUS991011.]{updated 10/13/99 FW} 
ADMINISTRATION:  
Rector:  Boris N. Onykiy
["Moscow State Engineering Physics Institute (Technical University): MEPhI," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 186.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
ACTIVITIES:
Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute is an educational institution for training future specialists for Minatom and other Russian institutions and enterprises.[1] There is a research reactor at the Moscow site.[2] MIFI's two-year graduate program in MPC&A, the first of its kind in the world, was developed in cooperation with Gosatomnadzor, the US Department of Energy, US national laboratories (ORNL, LANL, SNL, PNL), and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.  The program, which graduated its first eight students in 1999, includes courses in nuclear materials management, health physics, MPC&A methods and procedures, control and accounting systems, sensors for physical protection as well as practical training in these topics and English language instruction.[3] (For more information please see the Theoretical and Experimental Reactor Physics department webpage at http://nr.mephi.ru.)
Sources:
[1] Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 1995), p. 165.
[2] Marina Yelmanova, "Moscow On A Nuclear Keg," Kuranty, 25-26 March 1995, pp. 1, 4; in "Moscow Nuclear Reactors Threaten Safety," FBIS-SOV-95-077-S, 21 April 1995.
[3] Edward F. Kryuchkov et al., "Experience of Specialists Training at the Level of Master of Sciences Degree in Nuclear Materials Physical Protection, Control, and Accountability at Moscow State Engineering Physics Institute (Technical University)," paper presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Phoenix, AZ, August 1999. {entered 2/9/00 FW}
STRUCTURE: MIFI has branches in the following cities:
 
MIFI DIVISION 1: Ozersk Technological Institute of MIFI 
LOCATION: Ozersk (Chelyabinsk-57), Chelyabinsk Oblast
Address: Ozersk, 456783
Telephone: (3212) 6-59-52
Director: Yu. N. Stepanov
["Ozersk Technological Institute of MEPhI (OTI MEPhI) and South-Urals Polytechnical College," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 186.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
MIFI DIVISION 2: Novouralsk Polytechnic Institute of MIFI 
LOCATION: Novouralsk (Sverdlovsk-44), Sverdlovsk Oblast
Address: 85 ulitsa Lenina, Novouralsk, 624130
Telephone: (3432) 2-35-80
Director: A. P. Diagilev
["Novouralsk Polytechnical Institut of MEPhI (NPI MEPhI) and Urals Polytechnical College," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 186.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
MIFI DIVISION 3: Polytechnic Institute of MIFI 
LOCATION: Lesnoy, (Sverdlovsk-45), Sverdlovsk Oblast
Address: 36 Kommunisticheskiy prospekt, Lesnoy, 620045
Telephone: (39197) 5-61-53
Director: Vyacheslav M. Khrapal
["Polytechnical Institut of MEPhI (PIL MEPhI) and North-Urals Polytechnical School," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 187.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
MIFI DIVISION 4: Sarov Physical and Technical Institute of MIFI 
LOCATION: Sarov (Arzamas-16), Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast
Address: 6 ulitsa  Dukhova, Sarov, 607190
Telephone: (35172) 1-38-09
Director: Yu. P. Shcherbak
["Sarov Phisical [sic] and Technical Institut [sic] of MEPhI (SarPhTI MEPhI) and Arzamas Polytechnical School," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 187.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
MIFI DIVISION 5: Trekhgornyy Polytechnic Institute of MIFI
LOCATION: Trekhgornyy (Zlatoust-36), Chelyabinsk Oblast
Address: 17 ulitsa Mira, Trekhgornyy, 456080
Telephone: (35111) 6-70-67
Director: Fedor Dolinin
["Katalog," Russian Nuclear Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/cgi-bin/cat_get.cgi?ptr=323.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
MIFI DIVISION 6: Snezhinsk Physical and Technical Institute of MIFI 
LOCATION: Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70)
Address: 6/8 ulitsa Mira, Snezhinsk, 456770
Telephone: (35172) 3-24-22
Director: V. M. Skovpen
["Snezhinsk Physical and Technical Institut [sic] of Moscow Engineering Physics Institut [sic] and Snezhinsk State Polytechnical College," Nuclear Business Directory (Moscow: IBR Corporation, 2000), p. 187.]{updated 02/13/01 DK}
 
FISSILE MATERIAL:  
MIFI houses small amounts of plutonium for research and less than 100kg of HEU, a portion of which is 90% enriched.[1,2]
Sources:
[1] N. S. Pogozhin et al., "Atomic Center of Moscow Engineering-Physics Institute," Partnership for Nuclear Security: United States/ Former Soviet Union Program of Cooperation on Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting, (US Department of Energy, December 1997)
[2] CNS staff correspondence with Russian nuclear scientists, October 1999.{updated 02/13/01 DK}
MPC&A:
A 1997 US Department of Energy (DOE) report identified three MIFI buildings as areas of concern:  the reactor building (Building 17), which contains fresh fuel; the nuclear training facility (Building 31), which houses several subcritical assemblies; and the central storage facility (Building 30), which houses fresh and spent fuel on a temporary basis and small amounts of plutonium on a permanent basis.  Under the US Department of Energy MPC&A program, physical protection upgrades were made at buildings 17, 31, and 30; material control and accounting systems were designed and installed; and communication upgrades were made at the central guard post (Building 20).[1]  DOE work at the four buildings was completed in June 1998.[2] MIFI was chosen for implementation of DOE's pilot project on MPC&A Operations Monitoring (MOM) systems. The MOM system of enhanced security was installed at the Institute in 2002.[3]
Sources:
[1] N. S. Pogozhin et al., "Atomic Center of Moscow Engineering-Physics Institute," Partnership for Nuclear Security: United States/ Former Soviet Union Program of Cooperation on Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting, (US Department of Energy, December 1997){Entered 1/6/98 PBI}
[2] US General Accounting Office, Nuclear Nonproliferation:  Security of Russia's Nuclear Material Improving; Further Enhancements Needed, GAO-01-312 (Washington, DC:  February 2001), GAO Web Site, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01312.pdf.
[3] Weapons of Mass Destruction: Additional Russian Cooperation Needed To Facilitate U.S. Efforts to Improve Security at Russian Sites, GAO-03-482, March 2003. {Updated 5/7/01 KB} {Updated 3/27/03 NL}
 
For a description of the MPC&A work performed at this site please see the Department of Energy's December 1997 document, United States/ Former Soviet Union Program of Cooperation on Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting: Partnership for Nuclear Security.

REACTORS: One
[CNS Correspondence with Russian nuclear engineer, 23 April 2001, RUS010423.]{Entered 5/7/2001 KB}
NAME: IRT-MIFI
TYPE: pool
["Research Reactor Database," International Atomic Energy Agency Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb.]{Entered 5/7/2001 KB}
POWER: 2.5MW
[List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
FUEL: 3.5kg, 90% enriched[1], 15 to 16 fuel assemblies[2]
Sources:
[1] "Research Reactor Database," International Atomic Energy Agency Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb.
[2] International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, "International Science and Technology Center Project #245 Radleg," 1996, Kurchatov Institute Web Site, http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm.{Entered 5/7/2001 KB}
STATUS:   operational
[CNS Correspondence with Russian nuclear engineer, 23 April 2001, RUS010423.]{Entered 5/7/2001 KB}
COMMENTS:
This reactor was commissioned in 1967 and re-commissioned in 1975 after reconstruction. The State Specialized Design Institute designed the reactor. The full text (in English and Russian) of MIFI's brochure on this reactor is available.
Sources:
[1] List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.
[2] "Research Reactors in the Former Soviet Union," GAO/RCED-96-4, November 1995, p. 23.
[3] "World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1995," Nuclear Engineering International.
[4] Report on Activities of Gosatomnadzor in 1993.
 
SUBCRITICAL ASSEMBLIES: 
Five.  One is housed in the reactor building (Building 17) and four are in the nuclear training facility (Building 31).[1] According to other sources there are six,[2] or seven[3] subcritical assemblies located at this site.
Sources:
[1] CNS Correspondence with Russian nuclear engineer, 23 April 2001, RUS010423.{Entered 5/7/2001 KB}
[2] List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.
[3] CNS Correspondence with Russian nuclear scientist, 11 October 1999, RUS991011.{updated 5/15/2001 DK}
NAME: VVER
TYPE: uranium-water
 [List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 
NAME: RBMK
TYPE: uranium-graphite
  [List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 
NAME: VTGR
TYPE: uranium-graphite
 [List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 
NAME: UV-1
TYPE: uranium-water
COMMENTS:
This subcritical assembly was commissioned in 1983. It is used for training.
[List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 
NAME: UV-2
TYPE: uranium-water
COMMENTS:
This subcritical assembly was commissioned in 1972. It is used for training.
[List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 
NAME: UG
TYPE: uranium-graphite
COMMENTS:
This subcritical assembly was commissioned in 1955 and underwent reconstruction in 1973. It is used for training.
[List of Research Reactors, Critical and Subcritical Assemblies Supervised by Gosatomnadzor, 13 July 1992.]
 

Last updated 8 July 2004 

Comments or questions? Contact Kenley Butler at MIIS CNS: kenley.butlerATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2010 by MIIS.

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