Argonne, China sign agreement to develop Zero Power Test Facility

Signing ceremony for Zero Power Test Facility

Argonne National Laboratory and the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) have signed an agreement to develop a Zero Power Test Facility (ZPTF) at the CIAE that will be used in the ongoing Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) conversion program.

At a formal ceremony in Beijing, China on September 17, 2010, representatives from Argonne and the CIAE signed the multi-year agreement that will lead to construction and operation of the ZPTF and fabrication of the first low enriched uranium (LEU) core for conversion of Miniature Neutron Source Reactors (MNSRs) from operation with highly enriched uranium (HEU). 

MNSRs are small, low-power research reactors that were developed in China. Three HEU-fueled MNSRs are currently in operation in China along with five others located in Ghana, Nigeria, Syria, Pakistan and Iran. The ZPTF will be used to assemble and test LEU cores to replace the HEU cores currently operating in the MNSRs.

The U.S Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) Program in 1978 to develop the technology necessary to reduce the use of HEU fuel in research reactors by converting them to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. Today the RERTR is an integral part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), a program established by the U.S. DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to secure radiological and fissile materials worldwide. A total of 200 reactors are included in the scope of the conversion part of the program. Since the inception of the program, 72 of the 200 candidate reactors have been converted to LEU fuel or have been shut down prior to conversion.

The GTRI – foreign reactor conversion projects are under the technical direction of ANL’s Nuclear Engineering Division.

The GTRI - Reactor Conversion program mission supports the minimization and, to the extent possible, elimination of the use of High Enriched Uranium (HEU) in civil nuclear applications by working to convert research reactors and radioisotope production processes to the use of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel and targets throughout the world.

October 2010