| Established | 1982 (Partially operational) [1] [2] |
|---|---|
| Research type | Basic nuclear science |
Field of research | Radiochemistry |
| Location | Inshas, Egypt [3] [4] |
| Affiliations | Nuclear Research Center [5] |
Operating agency | Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority |
The Hydrometallurgy Pilot Plant (HPP) is a hot cell laboratory complex,[ citation needed ] dedicated to perform bench-scale radiochemistry experiments including the separation of plutonium [6] and uranium from the spent fuel rods of the ETRR-1 research reactor and was established in 1982. [1] [2] The HPP is owned and operated by the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) [1] at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, [5] northeast of Cairo. [7]
At the late of 1970s, Egypt was motivated to build eight nuclear power plants and to develop experience at the back end of a nuclear fuel cycle and was concluded several contracts with an unnamed foreign company to build the Hydrometallurgy Pilot Plant (HPP). [1] [2]
HPP was originally designed as a nuclear reprocessing facility, [2] [8] and in 1982, the second laboratory became operational. [1]
The HPP consists of three laboratories, the first laboratory consists of three hot cells (modules 1-3) [1] with the first module, is shielded alpha particle cell dedicated for mechanical shearing of research reactor fuel, it was unfinished due to the inability to secure the necessary export licence for the shearing equipment from the foreign vendor. The second module, is dissolver and mixer-settlers for first stage fission product separation. The third module, was designed for waste vitrification with no equipment had been installed. [2]
The second laboratory contains two modules, module 4, whish is a lead shielded glove box for second stage fission product separation using mixer settlers, while module 5, is an unshielded glove box for the separation of plutonium from uranium. [1] [2]
The third laboratory consists of two connected glove box lines suitable for plutonium chemistry but which contain no equipment. [2]
HPP possess a minor plutonium processing capacity and unable to reprocess and extract weapons-grade plutonium from the spent fuel of the research reactors due to the inability to complete the facility, [1] [9] however, Egypt decided to use one cell of the HPP within the framework of a project for the management of unused and orphan radioactive sealed sources, [2] which provides Egypt with the research capabilities on the back-end of nuclear fuel cycle. [1]
In early 2001, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) detected particles of actinides and fission products near the HPP facility, which shed light on the existence of the HPP. [1]
In November 2004 and January 2005, Egypt declared that, in 1987, it had carried out acceptance tests in the HPP using unirradiated uranyl nitrate in chemical reagents purchased from the local market while the uranyl nitrate had been mixed with a solution obtained from the dissolution of domestically produced scrap UO2 pellets (with 1.9 kg of uranium compounds). Egypt rationalized that it did not inform the IAEA about the facility, materials nor their use in the tests as the HPP never completed and it was designed for bench scale radiochemistry experiments, while Egypt should have declared the HPP to the Agency as early as possible prior to the introduction of nuclear material into the facility, according to the Safeguards Agreement which came into force in 1982. [2] Therefore, between 2004 and 2006, Egypt had submitted design information for the HPP and had provide inventory change reports (ICRs) with respect to the acceptance tests. [5]
In 2009, The IAEA's Safeguards Implementation Report (SIR) for 2008, concludes that earlier issues of undeclared nuclear activities and material reported to the Board of Governors in February 2005 are no longer outstanding. [5]
A nuclear reactor, formerly known as an atomic pile, is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid, which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. As of early 2019, the IAEA reports there are 454 nuclear power reactors and 226 nuclear research reactors in operation around the world.
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT. Proliferation has been opposed by many nations with and without nuclear weapons, as governments fear that more countries with nuclear weapons will increase the possibility of nuclear warfare, de-stabilize international or regional relations, or infringe upon the national sovereignty of nation states.
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly radioactive because all isotopes of uranium are unstable; the half-lives of its naturally occurring isotopes range between 159,200 years and 4.5 billion years. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 and uranium-235. Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead, and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing. The storage and disposal of radioactive waste is regulated by government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment.
Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and unused uranium from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into MOX nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. The reprocessed uranium, also known as the spent fuel material, can in principle also be re-used as fuel, but that is only economical when uranium supply is low and prices are high. A breeder reactor is not restricted to using recycled plutonium and uranium. It can employ all the actinides, closing the nuclear fuel cycle and potentially multiplying the energy extracted from natural uranium by about 60 times.
The Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility adjacent to the Tuwaitha "Yellow Cake Factory" or Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center contains the remains of nuclear reactors bombed by Iran in 1980, Israel in 1981 and the United States in 1991. It was used as a storage facility for spent reactor fuel and industrial and medical wastes. The radioactive material would not be useful for a fission bomb, but could be used in a dirty bomb. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the facility was heavily looted by hundreds of Iraqis, though it is unclear what was taken.
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232, that is loaded into the reactor along with fissile fuel. Breeders were at first found attractive because they made more complete use of uranium fuel than light water reactors, but interest declined after the 1960s as more uranium reserves were found, and new methods of uranium enrichment reduced fuel costs.
The integral fast reactor is a design for a nuclear reactor using fast neutrons and no neutron moderator. IFR would breed more fuel and is distinguished by a nuclear fuel cycle that uses reprocessing via electrorefining at the reactor site.
PUREX is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel. It is based on liquid–liquid extraction ion-exchange.
Aqueous homogeneous reactors (AHR) are a type of nuclear reactor in which soluble nuclear salts are dissolved in water. The fuel is mixed with the coolant and the moderator, thus the name "homogeneous" The water can be either heavy water or ordinary (light) water, both of which need to be very pure.
The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclear fuel cycle that uses an isotope of thorium, 232
Th
, as the fertile material. In the reactor, 232
Th
is transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233
U
which is the nuclear fuel. Unlike natural uranium, natural thorium contains only trace amounts of fissile material, which are insufficient to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. Additional fissile material or another neutron source is necessary to initiate the fuel cycle. In a thorium-fuelled reactor, 232
Th
absorbs neutrons to produce 233
U
. This parallels the process in uranium breeder reactors whereby fertile 238
U
absorbs neutrons to form fissile 239
Pu
. Depending on the design of the reactor and fuel cycle, the generated 233
U
either fissions in situ or is chemically separated from the used nuclear fuel and formed into new nuclear fuel.
Reactor-grade plutonium (RGPu) is the isotopic grade of plutonium that is found in spent nuclear fuel after the uranium-235 primary fuel that a nuclear power reactor uses has burnt up. The uranium-238 from which most of the plutonium isotopes derive by neutron capture is found along with the U-235 in the low enriched uranium fuel of civilian reactors.
Iran's nuclear program is made up of a number of nuclear facilities, including nuclear reactors and various nuclear fuel cycle facilities.
IR-40 also known as Arak Nuclear Plant is an Iranian 40 megawatt (thermal) heavy water reactor under construction near Arak, adjacent to the 1990s era Arak Heavy Water Production Plant. Civil works for the construction began in October 2004. It was initially planned that the reactor would begin nuclear operations in 2014.
President Adly Mansour announced on 7 November 2013 that Egypt was restarting its nuclear power program in El Dabaa; a deal was reached with the residents in which it was agreed that a residential area will also be built. The Egyptian minister of electricity, Ahmed Emam, has called the project "necessary" because of a small amount of renewable energy sources and not enough fuel.
ETRR-1 or ET-RR-1, is the first nuclear reactor in Egypt supplied by the USSR in 1958. The reactor is owned and operated by Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, 40–60 kilometres (25–37 mi) northeast of Cairo.
ETRR-2 or ET-RR-2, or is the second nuclear reactor in Egypt supplied by the Argentine company Investigacion Aplicada (INVAP) in 1992. The reactor is owned and operated by Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Cairo.
The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP), also known as Fuel Element Fabrication Plant, is a nuclear fuel fabrication facility supplied by the Argentine company INVAP in 1998. The FMPP is considered a Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel element facility, that produces the fuel elements required for the research reactor ETRR-2.
Radioisotopes Production Facility (RPF), is a facility for the production of radioisotopes from irradiation of Low enriched uranium (LEU) in the Egyptian Second Research Reactor (ETRR-2) Complex. The RPF was supplied by the Argentine company Investigacion Aplicada (INVAP) and was commissioned during October and November 2011. The produced radioisotopes are used in medicine, industry and research activities for domestic market.
The Hot Laboratory and Waste Management Center (HLWMC), is dedicated for radioactive waste disposal as well as development of expertise in the back end of nuclear fuel cycle and radioisotope production for medical and industrial applications. The HLWMC was established in 1980, owned and operated by the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) in Inshas, northeast of Cairo.
