[en] Description of the organization of the Reactor Area at the Instituto de Asuntos Nucleares de Colombia, with objectives and activities in neutronic physics, thermal hydraulic, reactor instrumentation, reactor chemistry, radiological and physical as well as information on the installation equipment and services. The article presents a form of operational reactor facility

[en] From the thermal-hydraulics point of view, the nuclear reactor IAN-R1 was analyzed, with special attention to its power upgrade capabilities. In a first calorimetric evaluation, the nominal power was also calibrated as a consequence of a theoretical and experimental matching results

No abstract available

[en] En 2011, Mexico won the Colombian international tender for the renewal of instrumentation and control of the IAN-R1 Reactor, to Argentina and the United States. This paper presents the design criteria and the development made for the new digital control system installed in the Colombian nuclear reactor IAN-R1, which is based on a redundant and diverse architecture, which provides increased availability, reliability and safety in the reactor operation. This control system and associated instrumentation met all national export requirements, with the safety requirements established by the IAEA as well as the requirements demanded by the Colombian Regulatory Body in nuclear matter. On August 20, 2012, the Colombian IAN-R1 reactor reached its first criticality controlled with the new system developed at Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ). On September 14, 2012, the new control system of the Colombian IAN-R1 reactor was officially handed over to the Colombian authorities, this being the first time that Mexico exported nuclear technology through the ININ. Currently the reactor is operating successfully with the new control system, and has an operating license for 5 years. (Author)

[en] This paper describes the thermal power calibration and neutron flux measurement performed in order to have an approach to the IAN-R1 reactor core characterization in the framework of the recently acquired operating license for five years. (author)

[en] The associated Instrumentation & Control of the Research Nuclear Reactor IAN-R1, located in Colombia, was updated on the year 2012, as a direct result of the initiative by the Colombian Government represented by the Colombian Geological Survey (Servicio Geológico Colombiano). The result of the conversion from Highly-enriched MTR Nuclear fuel into Low-enrichment TRIGA Nuclear fuel guarantees a nuclear reactor that can be operated for several years. The present document presents the Current Technical Status (status of available infrastructure and utilization capabilities, including staff) of the reactor, its success stories, major achievements, and future prospects. (author)

[en] A distribution was obtained for the thermal neutron flux in the MTR-type fuel elements of the IAN-R1 research nuclear reactor. The flux mapping was carried out with the detector activation technique with the use of Au-197 leaves. The power generated by each fuel element and by the nucleus was determined. Similarly, using the same procedure, the thermal neutron flux was found in the location of the neutron detectors for the control and safety instrumentation used for the operation of the nuclear reactor. This measurement allowed us to diagnose the operating performance of this equipment

[en] For some time the resins of ionic exchange were used for the chemical purification of water. Resins that have double function, are of special interest. They contain a cartridge, ionic channel and cationic channel. Cartridges with mixed channel resins for ionic exchange are used for purification of water in the IAN-R-1 reactor pool. After some time, cartridges lose their ionic exchange capacity and they must be replaced. This investigation is dealing with synthetic resins for ionic exchange, and focuses on standardisation of a method for separation of mixed channels. Favourable conditions were determined for the separation method and recovery of worn-out cartridges of resins for ionic exchange of mixed channel 'Barnstead supercartridges' for water purification

[en] This paper presents the neutronic analysis for the conversion of the 10 Kw IAN-R1 research reactor from HEU (90%) to LEU (20%). By changing the number of LEU plates per standard element, five different LEU prototype cores are found acceptable in excess reactivity, and deeper studies with the lowest and highest δK/K% are carried out

[en] The IAN-R1 reactor was furnished to the Government of Colombia under the 'Atoms for Peace' program by the U.S. Government. The reactor was constructed by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and achieved initial critically at the Institute for Nuclear Studies in Bogota on 20 January, 1965. The reactor core consists of aluminum clad MTR-type plate fuel elements containing fully-enriched uranium (HEU). The reactor was initially designed to operate at a steady-state power level of 20-kW but has operated at 30-kW for the past several years. The principal applications of the reactor are radioisotope production, radiochemistry, neutron activation analysis, training, and neutron beam physics. Beginning in 1987, a program was initiated to upgrade and modernize the reactor facility. The modernization program has included replacement of the original instrumentation and control system with a new state-of-the-art microprocessor-driven digital system and addition of a new radiation monitoring system