Research reactor applications

Nuclear technology is best known for its application in electricity production rather than for its other uses, which include research.

Mainly, research reactors are used to produce neutrons (subatomic particles present in almost all atoms) which are useful for scientific studies at the atomic and microscopic level and their contributions have been presented in several areas, such as:

Education and training of personnel

Most universities in which engineering or physics courses are taught, with an emphasis on nuclear applications, have a research reactor as a teaching tool allowing: students or trainees to gain experience in safe conditions and teaching staff to carry out research to a high standard in lectures.

They are also used in the training of personnel working in nuclear facilities in operation and maintenance or in radiation protection and even regulatory body personnel.

This is because the designs are simple and easily accessible, and reactor conditions can be safely simulated.

Scientific knowledge

Research reactors are considered powerful tools of scientific research and have provided major advances in science.

Medicine

Most people in countries with a health care system considered to be at an acceptable level will, at some stage in their lives, undergo treatment, diagnosis, or cure, based on nuclear methods. Thus, research reactors are used in the production of the radioisotopes so necessary for these procedures.

The lives that nuclear medicine has helped to save would alone justify all the investments made in the development of nuclear technology.

Contributions to electricity generation

The neutrons produced are used to irradiate materials to develop fission and fusion reactors and to obtain specific knowledge that can be applied to the development of nuclear power plants. This includes reactors for testing neutron calculations, materials, and fuel testing or demonstration reactors.

Industry

The main applications of research reactors in the industry include activation analysis, the production of radioisotopes for industrial purposes, and silicon doping.

Reactor de investigación
Research reactor
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