Considerations and Infrastructure Milestones for a Research Reactor Project

Establishment of a research reactor is a major project requiring careful planning, preparation, implementation, and investment in time and human resources. The implementation of such a project requires establishment of sustainable infrastructures, including legal and regulatory, safety, technical, and economic. This paper discusses the scope of these infrastructures and the major stages in their development; starting with a robust pre-project justification for the research reactor and moving through three milestones in the establishment of the infrastructure itself. The paper discusses also the main elements of the feasibility study for a new research reactor project and specific safety and technical considerations in different phases of the project as well as the major activities to be performed along with the project phases, including progressive involvement of the main organizations in the project, and application of the IAEA Code of Conduct on the Safety of Research Reactors and IAEA Safety Standards. (author)