Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi stated that the potential for commercialization of Russian nuclear technologies is obvious, and the prospects are open. He said this in the documentary film "Atom. Made in Russia" by the Vesti news service.
You in Russia have technologies with sodium coolant, fast neutron reactors. We do not yet realize the potential for commercialization of all those technologies that exist in Russia. But it is quite obvious that these prospects are open.
According to him, thermonuclear fusion technology is also gaining momentum today. Grossi emphasized that the nuclear industry lives in the present, but it has a huge future.
What are fast neutron reactors
Fast neutron reactors are one of the key areas of Russian nuclear energy. They operate within a closed nuclear fuel cycle, which significantly expands the fuel base and reduces the volume of radioactive waste.
One example is the MBIR multipurpose fast neutron research reactor, which is being built in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region. Its thermal power is 150 MW. MBIR will become the most powerful in the world among fast neutron research reactors under construction. An international research center has been created on its basis, which has already been joined by Vietnam, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, and the Chinese company Shanghai ZDAN International. The Arab Atomic Energy Agency also signed a cooperation agreement on this project.
In addition to research facilities, Russia is also developing commercial fast reactors. At an international exhibition in Beijing, Rosatom presented a conceptual model of a two-component nuclear energy system – with thermal and fast reactors and a closed fuel cycle.
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