Research reactor Maria
| Research reactor Maria | ||
|---|---|---|
The Maria reactor from the outside |
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| location | ||
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| Coordinates | 52 ° 7 '23 " N , 21 ° 20' 39" E | |
| country |
 Poland
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| Data | ||
| owner | Instytut Energii Atomowej (Institute for Nuclear Power) | |
| operator | Instytut Energii Atomowej (Institute for Nuclear Power) | |
| start of building | 1st January 1969 | |
| Installation | 18th December 1974 | |
| Reactor type | Swimming pool reactor | |
| Thermal performance | 30 MW | |
| Neutron flux density | 4.5 × 10 14 n / (cm 2 s) | |
| was standing | February 2, 2009 | |
The Maria research reactor is located in the Świerk district of Otwock , 30 kilometers from the capital Warsaw and is the second Polish research reactor after the Ewa research reactor .
History / reactor design
The plans and applications for the second Polish research reactor were drawn up in 1964 at the Institute for Nuclear Research. The reactor was to be used for nuclear material and radiation chemistry research and the production of radioisotopes. The first draft of the second Polish research reactor was developed on November 20, 1965 in the Office of Nuclear Technology Studies and Design PROATOM . The reactor was named Maria in memory of Marie Curie . The reactor was operated between 1975 and 1985. The reactor was renovated in mid-1985. After the Chernobyl disaster , new principles for nuclear safety analysis were established. On this basis, a passive safety system was built into the reactor to flood the fuel channels with reactor water in emergency situations. The new design of the neutron beam tubes was introduced. After the renovation, the reactor was put back into operation in December 1992. It can stay in operation until at least 2020, the next renovation could extend the operation until 2060.
Construction was completed in 1974. The reactor was built primarily for materials research and is therefore important for the construction and servicing of nuclear power plants . The reactor has a high neutron flux density and there is a high degree of versatility in the core configuration to meet various requirements. The 25 kilometers between the reactor and the capital Warsaw are considered an advantage.
The reactor is a multifunctional swimming pool reactor / high flux reactor with an output of 30,000 kW developed by Polish scientists . Construction began on January 1, 1969, and the reactor went into operation on December 18, 1974. The reactor is licensed by the National Atomic Energy Agency . There are 70 employees and 39 operators of the reactor. The moderator is beryllium and water, water is used as a coolant. The seven control bars are made of boron carbide . The reactor is used for physical research and isotope production. The fissile material comes from Russia, the enrichment is also carried out in Russia. Uranium dioxide is used as fuel . The fuel is 0.6 mm thick. The reactor is operated five days a week and 40 weeks a year. Studies have been carried out to use LEU fuels in the Maria reactor, among other things.
Fuel transport to Russia
In a mission that was completed on August 9, 2006, the IAEA assisted Polish authorities in removing over 40 kilograms of 20 to 80% highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the Maria reactor. The HEU was safely brought back to Russia in the air, where it originally came from (for the Polish research reactors). The two-day mission was a joint project between the United States, Poland, Russia and the IAEA following an agreement between the Russian President and the US President. George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin had signed a treaty at a meeting in Bratislava in February 2005 that the HEU of US and Russian origin should be returned to prevent the military use of the fissile material by third countries. Both IAEA inspectors and technical experts from the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were in attendance to monitor the transfer of uranium into canisters. With the escort of an armed guard, the uranium was loaded onto a transport plane early in the morning and taken to a safe facility near Novosibirsk . The Russian facility will deplete the fissile material to low-enriched uranium so that it cannot be used to build bombs. The fuel removal was sponsored by the United States and carried out through a technical collaboration with the IAEA. It is part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) , which aims to identify, secure, and recycle high-risk nuclear and radiological materials around the world. A total of around 195 kg of HEU of Russian origin were brought back to Russia by foreign research reactors built with Soviet help. The IAEA is also working with Poland to convert the powerful Maria reactor from HEU to LEU as a fuel that has no risk of proliferation.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Institute of Atomic Energy POLATOM ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c IEA Introduction. Research Reactor MARIA. Instytut Energii Atomowej - IEA - POLATOM, archived from the original on March 19, 2012 ; accessed on July 13, 2016 .
- ^ EWA and MARIA confirm competences of Polish scientists. National Center for Nuclear Research Świerk , February 25, 2015, accessed on July 13, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Sensitive Nuclear Material Removed From Poland (English)
- ↑ a b Sensitive Nuclear Material Removed From Poland - IAEA, US and Russia Remove Highly Enriched Uranium: IAEA (English)
- ↑ a b K.J. Andrzejewski, TA Kulikowska: Isotopic transmutations in irradiated beryllium and their implications on MARIA reactor operation . In: Nuclear technology . tape 146 , no. 1 , 2004, p. 72-82 ( abstract ).
- ↑ IEA - reactor Maria ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Research Reactor Database of the IAEA (English)
- ↑ NTI - Russia (English)
- ↑ Department of Energy - DOE Announces Successful Removal of Nuclear Material from Poland ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Russia repatriates spent nuclear fuel from Poland reactor (English)
Web links
- Operating times (diagram)
