OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2016. The Russian Research Institute of Atomic Reactors State Scientific Centre will make its research reactors and other facilities available to IAEA Member States for joint research and development (R&D) projects, Sergey Kirienko, Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM announced today.

The Institute, a subsidiary of ROSATOM, was designated as the second IAEA International Centre based on Research Reactors (ICERR) during the IAEA's 60th General Conference today.

"Access to such facilities and to their experienced staff will help IAEA Member States to achieve R&D objectives relevant to their identified national priorities and in building competence in nuclear science and technology," said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano at today's designation ceremony.

The designation was based on a rigorous process, including the review of the application and support documentation and an audit mission performed at the Institute by an international selection committee made up of representatives from the global research reactor community and IAEA staff.

The goal of the ICERR scheme, created in 2014, is to help Member States to gain timely access to research reactor infrastructure relevant to carry out nuclear research and development and build capacity among their scientists according to their national needs, explained Andrea Borio di Tigliole, Head of the Research Reactor Section at the IAEA. It also allows participating research reactors in the framework of ICERR scheme to coordinate and rationalize their offer of facilities, resources and services to interested  Member States.

The Institute, located near the southern Russian city of Dimitrovgrad, has six research reactors and also performs post-irradiation examination of nuclear reactor core components, irradiated material and irradiated fuel samples.

The Institute plans to welcome several researchers per year, Kirienko said.

"The ICERR status will provide the Institute with opportunities to further expand international collaboration and allow a wide range of foreign researchers to gain insight into the unique infrastructure and engineering competences of our Institute," said Alexander Tuzov, the Institute's Director.