IRT-T research reactor in Tomsk to operate on HEU until 2035

The IRT-T research reactor in the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute, Russia is expected to continue operations until 2035. IRT-T is one of the Russian research reactors that use HEU fuel. It has been brought to operation after an overhaul that began in 2014.

The reactor, which reached criticality in 1967, consumes about 2.2 kg of HEU annually. It was included in the list of six reactors for which the United States and Russia conducted conversion feasibility studies and was identified as one of the two reactors that can be converted (with IRT in MEPhI). In 2014, a team of U.S. experts visited Tomsk to discuss status of the conversion program. However, since most of the U.S.-Russian programs in this area were suspended in 2014, the reactor was relaunched on HEU fuel.