Name: RA research reactor
Other Names: YU-0002
Location: Vinča
Subordinate to: Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Vinča
Size: 6.5 Megawatt Thermal (MWth)
Primary Function: Research & development, Training, Isotope production
Description: The 6.5 MWth heavy water moderated reactor was designed by Soviet scientists at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, and constructed jointly by Soviet and Yugoslav companies at the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory – NET, now renamed the Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI) at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Vinča.[1] Construction began in 1956, and RA went critical in December 1959.

RA originally used 2% enriched S-shape uranium metal elements that were produced in the Elektrostal factory near Moscow[2]. They were configured as hollow, cylindrical segments 112.5 mm X 39 mm in size and weighing approximately 6 grams each.[3] The total load weighed 4.7Kg.[4] In 1976, the Soviets introduced new 80% enriched uranium dioxide TVR-S fuel elements that were produced at the "Novosibirsk Chemical Concentration Plant" from Novosibirsk, Russia.[5] It operated intermittently until August 1984 when it was shut down for an extended period due to safety concerns. At the time, no arrangements were made for managing the old Soviet fuel. In August 2002, out of worries for the safety and security of RA's fuel load, American technicians cooperated with Russian agencies, and Yugoslavian staff members to transport more than 5000 fuel rods containing 100 pounds of unirradiated 80% enriched HEU fuel, stored in 30 aluminum casks, to Russia.[6] In October 2006, the IAEA announced that it had finalized a contract to package and ship more than two metric tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from the reactor to Russia. According to IAEA's program manager for the Vinca project, about 30 percent of the fuel may be contaminating the pool where it is currently stored, thus requiring that the removal be done remotely.[18] The RA reactor is currently shut down, and is slated for decommissioning.[7]

Name: RB Heavy Water Zero Power Critical Assembly
Other Names: RB Research Reactor, YU-0003
Location: Vinča
Subordinate to: Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Vinča
Size: 0.0010 kW
Primary Function: Reactor physics, neutron analysis, nuclear safety studies[8]
Description: Yugoslav technicians began constructing the RB reactor, the country's first, in 1956. Most of the reactor was manufactured in the workshops and laboratories of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Vinča. However, the Soviet Union provided RB's uranium fuel elements and heavy water moderator. The reactor went critical in 1958, and remains operational.[9] RB originally was configured with 2% enriched uranium. However, in 1976, the Soviet Union introduced 80% enriched uranium fuel elements to the core.[10] RB reactor is now configured with a mixed 80% enriched and 2% enriched fuel load. The reactor was modified several times (1960, 1976, 1988), and was eventually converted to a flexible heavy water reflected experimental reactor with 1 W nominal power, operable up to 50 W (0.050 kW).[11]

Name: Electromagnetic Isotope Separator
Other Names:
Subordinate to: Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Vinča
Size: Unknown
Primary Function: Research into isotope separation
Description: This device may have been used to conduct research into electromagnetic isotope separation (EMIS) technologies.[12] No specifications are available, and there is some doubt that it was ever completed.[13]

Name: VINCY (Vinca Cyclotron)[14]
Other Names:
Location: Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
Size: 0.86m in radius, upto 66 MeV
Primary Function: production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, biomedical research Description: According to scientists at Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, the Institute is presently constructing the VYNCY cyclotron, as part of the TESLA Accelerator Installation.[15] The installation will consist of three machines: the VINCY Cyclotron, the VINIS Ion Source, which is a volume light ion source, and the mVINIS Ion Source, which is an electron cyclotron resonance heavy ion source.[16] The VINCY Cyclotron is a compact four-sector isochronous cyclotron. It was designed to accelerate light and heavy ions. The maximum ion energy is 36 MeV/n for heavy ions and 66 MeV for protons.[17]

[1] "RA Reactor," Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI), updated 2003, <http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/150/CentarWebEngleski/ReactorRA.htm>.
[2] "RA Reactor," Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI), updated 2003, <http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/150/CentarWebEngleski/ReactorRA.htm>.
[3] M.P. Pesic, S.T. Cupac, Z.S. Vukadin, "Management of Ageing Research Reactors," IAEA-SM-360/42P, Symposium on Reactor Reactor Utilization, Safety and Management, Portugal, 6-10 September 1999.
[4] "Research Reactor Details – RA," IAEA Research Reactor Database, <http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/>, updated 2002.
[5] "RA Reactor," Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI), updated 2003, <http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/150/CentarWebEngleski/ReactorRA.htm>.
[6] Bunn, Matthew, Anthony Wier, and John P. Holdren, "Controlling Nuclear Warheads and Materials: A Report Card and Action Plan," Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Project on Managing the Atom, Harvard University, March 2003.
[7] "RA Reactor," Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI), updated 2003, (http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/150/CentarWebEngleski/ReactorRA.htm).
[8] James P. Nichol and Gordon L. McDaniel, "Yugoslavia," in Nuclear Power in Developing Countries, James Everett Katz and Onkar S. Marwah (eds.), (Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1982), pp. 345-367.
[9] "Research Reactor Details – RB," IAEA Research Reactor Database, updated 2002, <http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/rrdb/>.
[10] M.P. Pesic, S.T. Cupac, Z.S. Vukadin, "Management of Ageing Research Reactors," IAEA-SM-360/42P, Symposium on Reactor Reactor Utilization, Safety and Management, Portugal, 6-10 September 1999
[11] "RB Reactor," Center for Nuclear Technologies and Research (NTI), updated 2003, <http://www.vin.bg.ac.yu/150/CentarWebEngleski/ReactorRB.htm>.
[12] Andrew Koch, "Yugoslavia's Nuclear Legacy: Should We Worry?" The Nonproliferation Review, Spring/Summer 1997, <http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol04/43/koch43.pdf>.
[13] André A. Gsponer, "Iraq's Calutrons: 1991 – 2001," Nuclear Weapons Archive website, 31 July 2001 <http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Iraq/Calutron.html>.
[14] Jasna L. Ristic-Djurovic and Sasa Cirkovic, "Unidirectional stripping extraction from a cyclotron which accelerates light as well as heavy ions," Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 6, Issue 3, 1 March 2003, <http://prst-ab.aps.org/abstract/PRSTAB/v6/i3/e033501>.
[15] D.V. Altiparmakov, M. Lazovic and N. Neskovic, "Operating Range of the VINCY Cyclotron," Paper presented at the 1996 Joint Accelerator Conference, Joint Accelerator Conferences Website, 9 September 1996, <http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/e96/PAPERS/MOPG/MOP126G.PDF>; Jasna L. Ristic-Djurovic and Sasa Cirkovic, "Unidirectional stripping extraction from a cyclotron which accelerates light as well as heavy ions," Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 6, Issue 3, 1 March 2003, <http://prst-ab.aps.org/abstract/PRSTAB/v6/i3/e033501>.
[16] Jasna L. Ristic-Djurovic and Sasa Cirkovic, "Unidirectional stripping extraction from a cyclotron which accelerates light as well as heavy ions," Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 6, Issue 3, 1 March 2003, <http://prst-ab.aps.org/abstract/PRSTAB/v6/i3/e033501>.
[17] Jasna L. Ristic-Djurovic, "Stripping Extraction of Positive Ions From a Cyclotron," Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beams, Vol. 4, Issue 12, 5 December 2001, http://prst-ab.aps.org/abstract/PRSTAB/v4/i12/e123501.
[18] "Vinca's Long and Winding Road Nears Milestone: Countries Step Up to Help Serbia Iimprove Nuclear Safety, Security," IEA Staff Report, 6 October 2006, http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2006/vincamilestone.html.