Tandem Accelerator
| Other Name: | Tandem Electrostatic Accelerator |
|---|---|
| Location: | Nuclear Research Center (NRC), Inshas (NE Cairo suburb) |
| Subordinate To: | Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) |
| Size: | 3 MeV |
| Facility Status: | Under commission, possibly operational |
The AEA plans to install a 3 MeV, 350 A (microampere) tandem electrostatic accelerator. [1] Although the AEA lists the project on its website as "still in the commissioning state," the accelerator may have become operational sometime in 2004. [2]
Even if the tandem accelerator is operational, the proliferation risk appears low. According to Kemp, assuming a 5 MeV beam and 100 mA (milliampere) current (more than Egypt's planned accelerator), some 50 tandem accelerators would be required to produce enough fissile material for a bomb in two years. [3]
Key Sources:
[1] Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority website, "Tandem Accelerator," www.eaea.org.eg; M.N.H. Comsan, "Tandem Accelerator Facility at Inshas," Atomic Energy Authority, accelconf.web.cern.ch/ AccelConf/ e98/ PAPERS/ WEP05C.PDF.
[2] Physics Egypt, "Inshas Tandem Accelerator Went Operational," 13 June 2004, www.physicsegypt.org.
[3] R. Scott Kemp, "Nuclear Proliferation with Particle Accelerators," Science and Global Security 13, 2005, pp. 183-207.
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, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS.
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Egypt
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