Licence to launch IBR-2 received

On 24 December 2024, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research received a licence from the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision of Russia to launch the IBR-2 Research Nuclear Facility at the Laboratory of Neutron Physics and bring it to power after repairing the heat exchangers in the second circuit of the reactor cooling system. The first IBR-2 operating cycle is set to take place from 17 February to 3 March.

The IBR-2 Pulsed Reactor was shut down in October 2021. According to FLNP JINR Chief Engineer Alexander Vinogradov, scheduled repairs to the air heat exchangers at the reactor finished at the end of 2024. “We have been repairing this equipment for almost three years. It was a difficult job, after which we sent all the documents to the Federal Service, where they successfully passed the examination,” Aleksander Vinogradov said.

During the first operating cycle of IBR-2, from 17 February to 3 March, reactor characteristics will be checked, and equipment for physics experiments will be adjusted. After that, a mandatory report on the reactor’s condition after a prolonged shutdown will be sent to the Federal Service. Further operating cycles for internal users’ physics experiments are planned for March and April. After that, the reactor will be shut down for scheduled summer maintenance. In the fall, the user program will resume with the invitation of scientists from world scientific centres. An international expert committee, according to the established competitive procedure, will select the most promising experiments.

As reported by JINR Press Office