Rosatom to process spent fuel from Kazakhstan’s research reactors

MOSCOW, Aug 21 (PRIME) -- Russian state nuclear company Rosatom plans to import in 2021 the spent nuclear fuel from two unique research reactors based in Kazakhstan used by the Soviet Union in 1960–1989 to test rocket engine technologies, the company said a 2018 report on Wednesday.

“In 2018, (Rosatom) prepared import of spent nuclear fuel of the IGR and IVG research reactors of Kazakhstan’s National nuclear center, located in the city of Kurchatov, to Russia. Transportation of fuel is planned for 2021,” the document read.

The Soviet Union worked on a nuclear rocket engine in Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk between 1960 and 1989. The engine included a pulse reactor, one of the world’s oldest reactor facilities.

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