IAEA sees enhanced safety at Philippine research reactor

An IAEA Integrated Safety Assessment of Research Reactors (INSARR) mission is conducted at the request of an IAEA Member State. It is a peer review service that assesses and evaluates the safety of research reactors based on IAEA safety standards.

An INSARR follow-up mission was held at the Philippines' Research Reactor-1 (PRR-1) Subcritical Assembly for Training, Education and Research (SATER) facility located in Quezon City, 10km northeast of Manila, from 10 to 12 August. It was conducted at the request of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) to review progress in implementing the recommendations from the INSARR mission carried out in 2023.

The mission team consisted of two experts from Romania and the USA, as well as one IAEA official. The team visited the facility, examined documentation, and held discussions with facility management, operating personnel and technical staff. The team reviewed areas including management, training, operations, safety analysis, decommissioning and other related areas.

_{The INSARR mission team inspecting PRR-1 SATER (Image: PNRI)}

The mission team noted improvements in organisational effectiveness such as the clarification of roles, functions and responsibilities of the key PRR-1 SATER operating personnel. The team also noted progress in the development of safety documentation, including completion of the commissioning report with complementary investigations on alternative fuel loading schemes.

"The mission found an encouraging level of implementation of the recommendations to strengthen safety in accordance with IAEA safety standards," said Kaichao Sun, Head of the IAEA Research Reactor Safety Section and mission team leader. "Progress has been made across organisational arrangements and safety documentation, while further efforts are needed related to the PRR-1 SATER operating programmes."

Areas for further improvement included the functions and effectiveness of the safety committee as well as the maintenance procedures of safety related systems and components.

"The 2026 follow-up INSARR mission gave us an opportunity to objectively assess our progress, learn from international experience, and further strengthen PRR-1 SATER as a safe and sustainable platform for advancing nuclear science and technology in the Philippines," said Ryan Olivares, Chief of the Nuclear Services Division at PNRI.

The mission team made one new recommendation to ensure that the operating personnel are given adequate retraining necessary for the safe operation of PRR-1 SATER.

The PRR-1 SATER facility

The 1 MW open pool general-purpose PRR-1 research reactor reached criticality in August 1963. In 1984, PNRI decided to convert and upgrade the reactor into a 3 MW TRIGA Mark III reactor. It was shut down in 1988, leaving the country with no operating nuclear facility for 34 years.

In 2014, a proposal was accepted to utilise fuel rods from PRR-1 for training and education. The fuel is a uranium-zirconium hydride alloy manufactured by General Atomics of the USA, which built the PRR-1. The IAEA has been supporting the project through a series of technical cooperation projects.

In the first project, which launched in 2016, the IAEA assisted PNRI to build capacity in reactor design, neutron dosimetry and regulatory matters related to research reactors. A second cooperation project followed in 2020 and to further build capacity, particularly in reactor engineering and operation, reactor utilisation and development of a reactor training programme to sustain local capacity-building activities.

In June 2022, PNRI - part of the Department of Science and Technology - began loading 44 TRIGA nuclear fuel rods into the core of the PRR-1 SATER, signalling the start of the nuclear commissioning of the reactor. PNRI declared the PRR-1 SATER fully operational in March the following year.

PRR-1 SATER is primarily used for training and education to support the national nuclear engineering programme, and for conducting research into nuclear applications that can support the development of healthcare, agriculture and industry.

In March 2022, then President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order that outlined the government's position for the inclusion of nuclear energy in the Philippines' energy mix, taking into account economic, political, social and environmental objectives. The country aims to have its first nuclear power plants operational by 2032, with an initial capacity of 1,200 MW, expanding to 2,400 MW by 2035 and reaching 4,800 MW by 2050.