The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (Necsa’s) project to build a multipurpose reactor (MPR) to replace its current SAFARI-1 research reactor was only one out of eight or nine such MPR or new research reactor projects and proposals currently under consideration across Africa. This was pointed out by research reactor specialist Nuno Pessoa Barradas, who headed the International Research Reactor Utilisation Review (IRRUR) team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which visited Necsa last week.

These projects were in different stages of development, he noted, and it was impossible to say how many of them would actually be built. By far the majority – 70% to 80% -- would be MPRs.

“There is a resurgence of interest in research reactors around the world,” he said, in response to an Engineering News question at a press conference. Globally, there were now about 40 MPR/research reactors under construction, planned, or projected. About 50% were MPRs.

The IAEA IRRUR was in South Africa at the request of the South African authorities. The mission, Barradas stressed, was a peer review, based on IAEA guidelines and international expertise, to provide mission-hosting countries (in this case, South Africa) with independent advice. “I must say it was a good week! What we have seen is openness and transparency.” The pre-mission preparation was excellent, he highlighted, with the IAEA team receiving all the information and documentation that they required.

The main purpose of an IRRUR mission was to help IAEA member States improve the utilisation of their research reactors. In the case of SAFARI-1, Necsa had identified neutron-based research as a priority area for development and so for input from the IAEA expert team. The projected MPR was also included in the remit of the mission, at Necsa’s request.

“We [the IAEA] designate our [IRRUR] report as restricted,” he said. “We won’t release the report to the public. But Necsa can release it.”

“[T]he IRRUR mission plays a significant role in ensuring that Necsa and South Africa continue to run South Africa’s research reactor safely and optimally,” affirmed Necsa CEO Loyiso Tyabashe. “SAFARI-1 plays a huge role globally in the provision of medical radioisotopes for the detection and treatment of cancer. It is a responsibility we aim to fulfil for many years to come as we move [full] steam ahead with a new [MPR] to come online in the early 2030s. We therefore appreciate the IAEA’s support by allocating a team of experts to come and give us credible feedback on our operation and management of SAFARI-1 and infuse the latest best practice. … While the mission was requested for the existing SAFARI-1, we were happy to include the MPR in the scope to ensure that we learn from experiences of other countries who have recently built research reactors.”

He assured that the contents of the IRRUR report would be released to the public, in some or other form.