Industry experts discussed opportunities of sharing research infrastructure and best industry practices, prospects of the nuclear research market, and application of nuclear technologies in non-power fields.Alexei Dub, Director of Nauka i Innovatsii (Science and Innovation, a management company operating Rosatom’s 13 R&D centers), spoke about two umbrella projects launched earlier this year. The first of them is a corporate intellectual property operator. The new business unit will provide intellectual property identification and registration services to the Rosatom Group companies entering the international market. “The main goal is to increase the share of intellectual property in the price of Rosatom’s products and receive a part of our revenue as license fees. Our first task is to bring the lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor (SVBR) technology to the global market. By 2019, Rosatom Group companies are expected to generate USD 1.5–2 billion in revenue from the use of intellectual property.”
The second project is NucLab, a Skolkovo-based showroom of Rosatom’s research and development infrastructure. It features end-to-end services provided by the Rosatom Research and Development Division comprising 3 high-performance materials testing reactors, a radiochemical laboratory, 5 certification centers, 28 thermophysical, hydrodynamic and thermohydraulic testing facilities, 7 research reactors and other research facilities. Many of them can provide services to non-nuclear customers. NucLab will turn into a point of contact with potential customers from Russia and abroad, and an efficient workload management tool for Rosatom’s research and development institutes.
The round table moderator Alexander Tuzov, Director of Nauka i Innovatsii and Manager of the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR), spoke about a multipurpose fast neutron research reactor (MBIR) and an international research center at RIAR. “MBIR is a new generation reactor combining the high dose and high precision functionality of irradiation and post-irradiation studies,” Mr. Tuzov noted. The reactor allows for a full range of scientific experiments. Three outside loop channels offer an opportunity to conduct complex irradiation studies of fuel and construction materials. A large number of irradiation cells and horizontal channels allow for material tests and fundamental research in neutron imaging. The project also provides for a variety of post-irradiation studies.
Work is underway to establish an international research center to use MBIR as a materials testing reactor for space, medical and closed fuel cycle purposes. As MBIR operator, Rosatom will be responsible for its safety. The 5-year testing plan for the reactor will be prepared and approved by a science council to include experts from different countries.
Since the reactor design is almost completed and construction permits have been issued, construction is about to start – the foundation will be concreted this summer and production of the reactor vessel and internals will soon begin. MBIR is scheduled for the start-up in 2020.
Yuri Toporov from RIAR provided more details on Rosatom’s capacity to produce radioactive isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine. These activities are concentrated in four institutes within Rosatom’s Innovation Management Division operating cutting-edge radionuclide production facilities. Excellent product quality is very much appreciated by customers, and the Division keeps on expanding its production capacities and looking for new customers, with Japan one of them.
