Salaspils Research Reactor

Technical Data
	Salaspils Research Reactor
General information
Location:	Salaspils, District of Salaspils, Latvia 2 km from the centre of Salaspils city, 25 km from Riga, the capital
Owner:	Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia
Operator:	State Ltd. "Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre"
	The University of Latvia
Type of Reactor:	Pool Type IRT Reactor
Pool Size:	4,5 m (lenght)
	2 m (width)
	8 m (depth)
Pool Weight:	500 t
Fuel:	EK-10(09.1961-06.1973)
	IRT-2M (07.1975-10.1979)
	IRT-2M & IRT-3M (10.1979-07.1989)
	IRT-3M (07.1989-06.1998)
Experimental Facilities:
	10 horizontal experimental channels (HEK)
	14 vertical experimental channels (VEK)
Power Info:
Therm Power Steady:	1,7-2,2 MW (09.1961-06.1973)
	3,0 MW (07.1975-10.1979)
	5,0 MW (10.1979-06.1998)
Max Flux SS, Thermal:	9.4E13 (n/cm2-s)
Max flux SS, Fast:	1.7E14 (n/cm2-s)
Moderator Material:	Light water
Coolant Material:	Light water
Reflector Material / No of Side:	BE, H2O / 4
Control, Safety, Shutdown Rods Material/ Number:	BC, SS / 13; 12 SHIM; SCRAM; 1AUTO
Cooling:	Nat Convection, Forced Cooling
Cool Velocity in Core:	2.25 M/S
Pool/Pond Parameters Monitored at Reactor: (Typical values)
pH:	5.5 - 6.5 pH (monitored weekly)
Conductivity:	1.5 µS/cm - (n/a) µS/cm (monitored weekly)
Temperature:	25 °C - 30 °C(monitored weekly)
Employees:	200-250 (simultaneously)
	more than 2100 (total)
Safety issues
Waste:	1200 m³ (will be generated during decommissiong)
Accidents:	0
Sanitary Zone:	1 km
Population of the Area:	23 312 (data as of 01.01.2012)
Construction data
Constructor:	Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences
Construction Started:	01.01.1959
First Criticality:	26.09.1961 at 5.02 PM
Official Opening:	09.10.1961
Reconstruction of Cooling Systems:	1975
Closure:	19.06.1998 at 1.00 PM
Status:	Closed, being decommissioned

Summary

Salaspils Research Reactor (SRR) is located in the Salaspils municipality in Latvia. It was the only civilian research reactor in the Baltics. The plant partook in neutron activation analysis and gamma irradiation for various materials.

The research reactor was originally built according to former USSR design as a pool-type light water-water reactor with 2 MW nominal thermal power. Since 1975, after physical reconstruction of the reactor, the nominal thermal power of the reactor was increased up to 5 MW. In 1995 the Cabinet of Ministers made the decision to start preparations for the decommissioning and in 1998 the second decision was made about permanent shutdown of the reactor.

The estimated amount of radioactive waste the decommissioning of the SRR will generate is 1200 m³.

There was a small radioactive waste storage on the site of the SRR (1975-2005) where some parts dismantled from the reactor core were stored after reconstruction activities in 1975. After characterisation and re-packing all waste was transferred to the radioactive waste repository „Radons“ in Baldone. The spend fuel was sent to Russia in May 2008 within a bilateral governmental agreement.

Links

• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia (owner): http://www.varam.gov.lv/eng
• State Ltd. "Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre"(operator): http://www.meteo.lv
• Salaspils Municipality: http://www.salaspils.lv

Background Information

The story of Salaspils Research Reactor (SRR) starts in 1957 when Igors Kirko, the director of Institute of Physics, invited two academics to a meeting. His purpose was to make proposals for construction of large scientific objects in Latvia, which would be included in the plan for next seven years (in the Soviet Union nothing could happen without planning). One of the academics, Peteris Prokofjevs, suggested to build a research reactor – he had recently visited IRT-1000 reactor in Moscow and was deeply impressed.

The proposal was soon accepted by the Soviet government. At first SRR was a regular construction site but later someone came up with the idea to turn it into a present from Latvian proletarians for the XXII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Autumn 1961. The site became an object of high priority.

The first criticality took place on September 26, 1961 at 5.02 PM. After that the reactor was shut down and turned on again on October 9, 1961 when it was oficially opened by both academics and government officials.

Blueprints and other documentation for SRR project were received from Kurchatov's Nuclear Power Institute in Moscow. Latvians realized that the project is already out-of-date and modified it. For instance, they made a new device for preparation of 50 m³ of distilled water that was necessary for the pool. This devide allowed to produce water much faster and was also cheaper than the original one. Another modification was the control room desk. In the original project only one person could work with it while in SRR two main workspaces and several extra workspaces were created.

The reactor was a secret object. All deliveries were received from “post boxes”. For instance, “Post Box No.3” meant fuel. The employers could not travel abroad, expect for business (conferences, etc.), and they were aloud to meet foreigners only in pairs. After such meetings both persons had to write down what they had talked about. Despite all secrecy around it, SRR was open for visitors. It is presumed that more than 50 000 people have visited it.

The reactor was operational from 1969 to July 1998. The plant partook in neutron activation analysis and gamma irradiation for various materials. It was a pool-type reactor. In May 1995, the Latvian government decided to shut down the Research Reactor Salaspils (SRR) and to dispense with nuclear energy in future.

The IRT research reactor in Salaspils site near the capital of Latvia – Riga was put into operation in September 1961. The research reactor was originally built according to a former USSR design as a pool-type light water-water reactor with nominal thermal power of 2 MW. Since 1975, after physical reconstruction of the reactor, the nominal thermal power of the reactor was increased up to 5 MW. On 16 May 1995, the Cabinet of Ministers had made the order to shut down the SRR and requested to start the preparation of a concept for decommissioning.

The relevant technical co-operation project on decommissioning the research reactor was submitted to IAEA for 1997/1998. There were 5 expert missions from IAEA from July 1997 until June 1998. The conclusion was made, that the total decommissioning and dismantling costs would amount to ECU 17-20 millions.

The following budget plan (price base 1998) statements for the decommissioning and dismantling of SRR were made:

• The annual costs at the beginning of the decommissioning and dismantling project (1999-2000) were comparatively low and amounted to approximately ECU 700,000.00 per year;
• The costs during the licensing phase are higher and amount to approximately ECU 1,940,000.00 in 2001 and ECU 2,780,000.00 in 2002.
• The highest annual investments of approximately ECU 5,560,000,00 are required in 2003, when the necessary additional equipment (fuel handling, waste treatment) will be delivered and the modifications at SRR have to be done.
• Subsequently, the annual costs decrease to approximately ECU 3,056,000.00 in 2004 (main tasks are the delivery of the transport and storage casks and the execution of the fuel reloading).
• The annual costs during the final dismantling period amounts to approximately ECU 850,000.00 in the years 2005 to 2008 and were covered by Latvian side.

Irradiated nuclear fuel of the Salaspils research reactor in Latvia has been delivered to the Production Association Mayak in Russia. The enterprise’s press service reports the train load of spent nuclear fuel arrived at Mayak on May 15 2008. The delivery was arranged in an agreement between Russia and Latvia regarding repatriation of spent nuclear fuel of the research reactor shutdown in Salaspils.

More Resources

• IRT Reactor in Nucleus IAEA information system
• RKS25 Reactor in Nucleus IAEA information system

Additional Texts

• Bellona: Russia ready to accept Latvian nuke waste in early 2008

Media Coverage (in Latvian)

• • Svinīgi aptur Salaspils kodolreaktoru (June 20, 1998)
  • Likvidējamais kodolreaktors (2003)
  • Pastiprina kontroli Salaspils reaktorā (February 20, 2004)
  • Latvija beidzot atbrīvojas no divarpus kilogramiem bagātināta urāna (May 30, 2005)
  • Kodoldegviela no Salaspils reaktora nonākusi Krievijā (May 16, 2008)
  • Salaspils kodolreaktorā turpinās demontāža. Cik tas drošs? (March 27, 2011) (includes video - a rare opportunity to see the SRR from the inside!)
  • Kodolpētniecības 50 gadi Latvijā (May 9, 2011)
  • Slepenais objekts Salaspilī (September 2011)

Open questions

• What kind of research was done - scientific, military?
• Constructor?
• What fuel was used?
• Radiation doses? What kind of?
• Accidents?
• How many employees worked there?
• Were there any other research reactors in Latvia?