Location: Kongnung-dong, Nowon-ku, Seoul, South Korea (the former location of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)

Address: P.O. Box 105, Tokchin-dong, Yusong-ku, Taejon, 305-353, South Korea (the current address of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)

Telephone Number: +82-42-868-2000/2001

Subordinate to: Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Ministry of Science and Technology

Size:  100KW(th) [0.1 MW(th)] and later upgraded to 250KW(th) [0.25 MW(th)]

Primary Function: Training, neutron beam research, radioisotope production, and neutron activation analysis.

Description: The TRIGA-Mark II in Seoul was South Korea’s first research reactor, and it was provided by US firms General Atomics and General Dynamics under an agreement signed on 3 December 1958. The total reactor cost was $73,000 of which $35,000 was provided by the United States. Construction for the reactor began in July 1959 and was completed on 5 November 1960. TRIGA-Mark II reached criticality on 19 March 1962 and began operations on 30 March 1962. The original capacity of 100KW(th) was upgraded to 250KW(th) in 1969. General Atomics provided the 20 percent enriched uranium fuel for the reactor, and it was operational for approximately 36,000 hours per year.

In January 1995, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) announced its decision to shut down the TRIGA II and III reactors. In addition, KAERI announced plans to completely dismantle TRIGA III while preserving TRIGA II as part of a memorial display. On 30 December 1995, TRIGA-Mark II was shut down, and in 1997 the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute began a four-stage project for decommissioning.

Key sources: South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology, Wonjaryok Anjyonbaekso (Seoul: Ministry of Science and Technology, 2002); Korean Electric Power Corporation, “Chollyoksaop 100 Nyonsa,” 27 April 2001, <http://www.kepco.co.kr/kepco_plaza/f/f2/html/
f2_01_01_04_03.html>; Ha Yong Son, Hanbandoui Haengmugiwa Segyejilso (Seoul: Nanam, 1991); “Wonjaro 2 Ki T’oeyok/‘TRIGA Mark II’ Pojon ‘Mark III’ Haech’e’k’iro,” Donga Ilbo, 10 January 1995, p. 17, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.co.kr>; International Atomic Energy Agency Research Reactor Database (RRDB), “Research Reactor Details - AGN 201 SUWON,” <http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/>; So Du Hwan, “Yon’guro 1 Ho Ch’udomun: Memorial Writing to Korea’s First Reactor TRIGA Mark II,” High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO), September 1997, <http://hanaro.kaeri.re.kr/hanews9/news9-6.htm>; Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, Nuclear Energy Agency, “Decommissioning in Korea,” <http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/wpdd/korea.pdf>.

	Updated October 2004