KAERI and JSC “SSC RIAR” signed MOU on Scientific and Technical Cooperation
 
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and the Joint Stock Company “State Scientific Center – Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (JSC “SSC RIAR”) and signed the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Scientific and Technical Cooperation. The official signing ceremony was held in Dimitrovgrad on June 2, 2016. KAERI President Dr. Jong Kyung KIM and RIAR Director Mr. Alexander A.Tuzov signed the MOU.

The MOU provides that both KAERI and RIAR will focus their joint efforts on planning of joint research and development projects, organization and holding of technical meetings, preparation of joint publications as well as on implementation of joint programs for further development professional competence and expertise.

Dr. Kim mentioned that the MOU signing has a significant meaning for both organizations and it represents an important step in technical cooperation activities, which will advance the state of our expertise and knowledge regarding nuclear fuel, non-fuel components and structural material for advanced reactors, irradiation and post-irradiation examinations, operation and maintenance of sodium-cooled fast research reactors and nuclear fuel cycle technologies.

Dr. Kim had a chance personally familiarize himself with experimental capabilities of RIAR during his technical tour and visited the 100MW loop-type research reactor MIR M1 and the world’s single currently operating fast reactor BOR-60. Moreover, Dr. KIM, visited the construction site of Multipurpose Fast Research Reactor MBIR whose construction was launched in September 2015.

KAERI and RIAR signed a contract to carry out research on experimental fuel rods irradiated in the BOR-60 fast research reactor at KAERI on October 20, 2015. Dimitrovgrad, Russia-based RIAR's BOR-60 is the world's only fast research reactor in operation. Commissioned in 1969, BOR-60 is fully contracted till the end of its lifetime in December 2020. KAERI is currently developing a prototype SFR with the future timeline for a design approval by 2020 and completing its construction by 2028 and that securing design reliability and verification data including fuel irradiation data is necessary to obtain design approval from a licensing authority. To this end, KAERI has started an active cooperation program with RIAR for clad material irradiation test since December 2014.