Russian PIK research reactor upgraded

The introduction of new nuclear fuel will allow the high-flux research reactor's run time to be "significantly" increased between refuellings, said Rosatom. This will widen the scope of experiments PIK can undertake.

The PIK research reactor complex is located in Gatchina at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. It was designed in the 1970s, but construction stalled in the 1980s.

The reactor was eventually completed and launched in February last year as part of a national project "for creating world-class mega science facilities in Russia".

"The materials used in the development and the design of the fuel element make it possible ... [to achieve] a maximum specific volumetric energy release of up to 5.5 MWt per litre," Rosatom said.

It added that the PIK reactor was "the world’s largest beam-type reactor research facility with a thermal power of 100 MW, which makes it possible to place up to 50 scientific stations on extracted neutron beams."

(09/02/22: This article has been updated to include the Institut Laue-Langevin in the list of other high-flux research reactors)