Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP, under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan) hosted a meeting of the Committee for Non-Energy Applications of Nuclear Technologies under the Advisory Board of the International Research Center Based on the MBIR Reactor (IRC MBIR).

The event was attended, both face-to-face and online, by over 40 representatives of the largest Russian and overseas nuclear companies, major scientific and educational institutions of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, Armenia, Algeria, Brazil and South Africa, in addition to international organizations, such as IAEA and JINR. It was moderated by Vasiliy Konstantinov, Director in International Science and Technology Projects at Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, CEO, IRC MBIR LLC.

The meeting was opened by Uzbek physicist Dr. Bekhzod Yuldoshev, President of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and a Foreign Member of the RAS.

Stepan Kalmykov, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), a RAS academician, Scientific Supervisor of the Chemistry Department at Lomonosov Moscow State University and Chairman of the IRC MBIR Advisory Board, replied with a welcoming speech. He said: “Uzbekistan is our strategic partner under the MBIR project. The IRC MBIR Advisory Board continues to create an international agenda within the promising experimental research program. The unique design features of the MBIR reactor, together with its high power, will provide a fast spectrum and record density of the neutron current for us to achieve radiation effects on the study samples of up to 35-40 dpa; this is twice as much as in the case of BOR-60 being replaced by MBIR. Research using the MBIR reactor will open doors for multilateral scientific collaborations and ensure a virtually full range of cutting-edge research and commercial technologies for the nuclear industry.”

Dr. Lachezar Kostov, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Vice-Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), noted a growing interest in neutron research around the globe and spoke about JINR contribution to major international mega-science projects, including IRC MBIR. “The JINR member countries, such as Russia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and many others, seek to consolidate their joint effort for the use of neutron scattering methods in nuclear physics and condensed matter physics on multiple neutron sources. MBIR infrastructure, including coupled horizontal channels, will open vast opportunities for a wide variety of research. In fact, JINR, in cooperation with IPPE, is preparing to the development of a MBIR coupled channel research program,” he said.

Ilham Sadikov, Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, gave a talk about INP main activities in terms of non-energy applications of nuclear technologies, with particular focus on possibilities of exploring the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. “In the near future, INP is going to enter into an Agreement on Accession to IRC MBIR, while the related legally binding terms and conditions were signed in November 2022. Joining IRC MBIR and access to the MBIR reactor will expand the INP scientific capacity and enable various research in nuclear physics, medicine, reactor materials science, and production of radioisotope products. Moreover, MBIR experimental capabilities to study nuclear reactions in stars will justify and check hypotheses and calculations made by Uzbek astrophysicists. High neutron fluxes in the MBIR reactor will help produce new types of radioisotope products, which are physically impossible in other reactors to date,” he said.

Dmitry Klinov, Deputy Scientific Supervisor for Promising Topics of IPPE, told about goals and objectives of the MBIR project and unique experimental capabilities of the research nuclear reactor: “We need to enhance the MBIR Research Program, including through the use of out-of-vessel experimental facilities. Our estimates of the spectrum and the intensity of neutron and ?-quantum beams suggest that we can potentially carry out biomedical studies using the reactor. Beam dimensions make it possible for us to conduct more complex and comprehensive studies with a potential integral action of other sources of radiation, apart from neutrons and ?-quanta. For this end, in the first place, we need to conceptualize a research program and develop initial technical requirements to premises and additional technical means for the research. In this regard, the calls and meetings of the committees within the Advisory Board is of great importance for the future MBIR project.”

Andrei Lider, Head of Department/Division for Experimental Physics at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), told about how TPU was contributing to research in non-energy applications of nuclear technologies. “The creation of a ‘critical amount’ of researchers who can be involved in the MBIR project is an important task for the entire project as a whole, while involvement of students at the construction stage will help secure new talents for the project”.

Yevgeny Bespala, Acting Vice-Rector for Research and Technology Transfer, TPU, Chairman of the Committee for Non-Energy Applications of Nuclear Technologies under the IRC MBIR Advisory Board, continued with the Committee’s Action Plan and summed up the meeting.

“Traditionally, meetings of the relevant committees under the IRC MBIR Advisory Board are of great interest for both Russian and foreign experts in nuclear technologies. The scientific collaboration and the broad discussion of the international program for promising experimental research on the MBIR reactor among prominent nuclear scientists confirm the project’s strategic significance for the global nuclear industry,” Vasily Konstantinov emphasized.

At the end of the meeting, the participants visited the site operated by INP under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and took a technical tour to see the VVR-SM reactor, State Enterprise “Radiopreparat”, an electron accelerator and Co-60 gamma-ray irradiation facility.