Russia's reactor decommissioning plans

The Federal Program on Nuclear and Radiation Safety in 2008 and through 2015, which was approved by the Russian government in October 2007, calls for decommissioning and cleanout of several research reactors and critical assemblies sites by 2015. As indicated int he notes below, most of the facilities have been shut down some time ago and some sites have been cleaned out already. However, some apparently still contain HEU material.


1. Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, St. Petersburg

    MER critical facility
    G-1 critical facility
    R-1 subcritical assembly

[All these facilities used HEU. They all have been shut down and all HEU had been removed from the site by 2006]


2. Scientific Research Institute for Instruments (NIIP), Lytkarino

    BARS-2 pulse reactor

[All the fuel had been removed and the reactor site cleaned out by 2008]


3. Aleksandrov Scientific Research Technological Institute (NITI), Sosnovy Bor

    PPU research reactor
    VAU-6 assembly

[The PPU ("steam-generating facility") mentioned in the Federal Program is the KM-1 liquid-metal reactor prototype. It was shut down in 2004.]


4. Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR), Dimitrovgrad

    RBT-10/1 reactor
    Arbus AST-1 reactor

[RBT-10/1 was shut down in 1994, Arbus/AST-1 was shut down in 1988.]


5. Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), Obninsk

    AM reactor
    BR-10 reactor
    27/VT prototype of naval reactor

[Both AM (also known as AM-1) and BR-10 were shut down in 2002. The AM had its fuel (it used LEU fuel) removed by 2008 27/VT was shut down in 1976.]

6. Kurchatov Institute, Moscow

    MR reactor
    Gidra pulse reactor

[MR was shut down in 1992.]