RV-1 nuclear reactor

The RV-1 nuclear reactor, now repurposed and known as Gamma rays sterilization plant ('Pegamma'; Spanish: Planta de Esterilización por Rayos Gamma),[1] is a facility located in Altos Mirandinos, Miranda, Venezuela.[1] It was the only nuclear reactor in Venezuela and one of the first reactors in Latin America.[2][3][lower-alpha 1] Currently, it is used as a gamma ray facility for microbiological sterilization of surgical supplies, packaging, medicine and dry food.[4]

RV-1
Façade of the RV-1 Nuclear Reactor facility in the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC)
Reactor conceptPool-type
StatusDismantled
LocationVenezuela
Coordinates10°23′51″N 66°59′03″W
Main parameters of the reactor core
Fuel (fissile material)235U
Primary moderatorLight water
Primary coolantWater
Reactor usage
Primary useResearch
Power (thermal)3 MW
Criticality (date)12 July 1960
Operator/ownerIVIC

Characteristics

The RV-1 was a pool-type material testing reactor (MTR) with a capacity of 3 megawatts of thermal power. It contained 20% enriched uranium as core fuel and used light water as both coolant and neutron moderator.[5]

History

During the regime of president Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Venezuela became member of the International Atomic Energy Agency after purchasing the RV-1 reactor from General Electric in 1956.[6][7] The project was supported by the administration of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, to help promote the Atoms for Peace program,[8][9] with the United States donating US$300,000 for the construction of the reactor.[9] The reactor was constructed in the grounds of the Venezuelan Institute of Neurology and Brain Research (IVNIC, now known as IVIC - Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research) under the supervision of Humberto Fernández-Morán; he never saw the project finished, as he went into exile after the Pérez Jiménez regime fell in 1958.[6]

The reactor reached criticality in 1960 and was used for several decades to perform physics research, radiochemistry, production of radioisotopes and as neutron source.[5] RV-1 was last operated in March 1991 and the decision to permanently shutdown the reactor was made in 1997.[5] The core was later dismantled and sent back to the United States.[8]

Repurposing and cancelled sequels

The Venezuelan government approved 2.1 million dollars to repurpose the reactor in 2010.[1] Under the name 'Pegamma',[1] IVIC received the authorization in 2004 to use the renewed reactor facility as an industrial irradiation plant, with a cobalt-60 gamma rays source with a capacity of 1 megacurie.[4][8]

Venezuela later announced plans to build a nuclear power station in 2010.[10] The government signed an agreement with Russia for the purchase and installation of two new nuclear reactors,[8] but after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, President Hugo Chávez announced a halt to plans on building a nuclear power plant.[8][11]

See also

Notes
  1. According to the IVIC,[2] RV-1 was the first nuclear reactor in Latin America, other sources consider RA-1 Enrico Fermi (criticality in 1958) in Argentina as such.[3] Consider also Brazilian IEA-R1 (criticality in 1957).

References
  1. "Pegamma". IVIC (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. "Inauguración Reactor RV1". IVIC (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. Álvarez-Cornett, José (21 November 2015). Guillermo, mi tutor (PDF) (in Spanish) (1 ed.). Caracas. p. 42. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  4. "Venezuela puts nuclear over oil". World Nuclear News. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  5. Traversa, P.; Parra, R.E. (2009). "Venezuelan experience on return of MTR spent fuel from the RV-1 research reactor to the United States of America". Return of Research Reactor Spent Fuelto the Country of Origin:Requirements for Technical and Administrative Preparations andNational Experiences, Proceedings of a technical meetingheld in Vienna, August 28–31, 2006 (PDF). International Atomic Energy Agency. pp. 195–219. ISBN 978-92-0-151009-9.
  6. Squassoni, Sharon; Gerami, Nima (18 September 2008). "Venezuela: A Nuclear Profile". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  7. Diehl, Sarah (7 May 2019). "Venezuela's Search for Nuclear Power - or Nuclear Prestige". Nuclear Threat Initiative. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  8. Greaves, Eduardo D.; Sajo-Bohus, Laszlo (2017). "26.23 Venezuela". In Dolan, Thomas J. (ed.). Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy. Woodhead Publishing, Elsevier. pp. 765–773. ISBN 978-0-08-101243-7.
  9. Sánchez Silva, Daniel J. (2016). "El programa Átomos para la Paz en Venezuela" [The Atoms for Peace program for Venezuela]. Revista de la Sociedad Venezolana de Historia de la Medicina (in Spanish). 65 (2).
  10. Harding, Luke (15 October 2010). "Russia and Venezuela strike nuclear power station deal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  11. Rodríguez Pons, Corina (16 March 2011). "Chavez Halts Venezuela Nuclear Plans After Japanese Crisis". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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