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 / 10.39750°N 66.98417°W / 10.39750; -66.98417
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

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]

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. 1 2 3 4 "Pegamma". IVIC (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Inauguración Reactor RV1". IVIC (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. 1 2 Álvarez-Cornett, José (21 November 2015). Guillermo, mi tutor (PDF) (in Spanish) (1 ed.). Caracas. p. 42. Retrieved 20 June 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 "Venezuela puts nuclear over oil". World Nuclear News. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 1 2 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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