Commercial products and services of research reactors. Proceedings of a technical meeting held in Vienna 28 June - 2 July 2010

Although the number of operational research reactors is steadily decreasing, more than half of those that remain are greatly underutilized and, in most cases, underfunded. To continue to play a key role in the development of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, the remaining research reactors will need to provide useful products and services to private, national and regional customers, in some cases with adequate revenue generation for reliable, safe and secure facility management and operation. In the light of declining governmental financial support and the need for improved physical security and conversion to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, many research reactors have been challenged to generate income to offset increasing operational and maintenance costs. The renewed interest in nuclear power (and therefore in nuclear education and training), the global expansion of diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine, and the extensive use of semiconductors in electronics and in other areas have created new opportunities for research reactors, prominent among them, markets for products and services in regions and countries without such facilities. It is clear that such initiatives towards greater self-reliance will need to address such aspects as market surveys, marketing and business plans, and cost of delivery services. It will also be important to better inform present and future potential end users of research reactor services of the capabilities and products that can be provided. This publication is a compilation of material from an IAEA technical meeting on 'Commercial Products and Services of Research Reactors', held in Vienna, Austria, from 28 June to 2 July 2010. The overall objective of the meeting was to exchange information on good practices and to provide concrete examples, in technical presentations and brainstorming discussions, to promote and facilitate the development of commercial applications of research reactors. The meeting also aimed to enhance the utilization of research reactors and their sustainability through financially viable services and international cooperation. In this report, reference is also made to a similar IAEA technical meeting on 'Commercial Applications of Nuclear Analytical Techniques', held in Vienna, Austria, from 23 to 26 November 2004, and a few recently updated papers from that meeting have been included here. This publication summarizes the individual reports presented during the above meetings, and details the overall findings and conclusions jointly identified and agreed upon by the meeting participants. The individual papers are available on the CD-ROM attached to this publication