ETRR-1
| Experimental Training Research Reactor No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| Operating Institution | Nuclear Research Center |
| Location | Inshas, Egypt |
| Type | Light water tank WWR |
| Power | 2 MW (thermal) |
| Construction and Upkeep | |
| Construction Began | March 1, 1958 |
| First Criticality | February 8, 1961 |
| Staff | 18 |
| Operators | 7 |
| Refuel Frequency | Had never been refueled since the initial fuel load |
| Technical Specifications | |
| Max Thermal Flux | 1.5E13 |
| Max Fast Flux | 3.6E13 |
| Fuel Type | 10% enriched U235 EK-10 |
| Cooling | Light water |
| Neutron Moderator | Light water |
| Neutron Reflector | H2O |
| Control Rods | BC,SS 16 per element |
| Cladding Material | Aluminum alloy |
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ETRR-1 or ET-RR-1 (Experimental Training Research Reactor Number one, and sometimes called Egypt Test and Research Reactor Number one) is the first nuclear reactor in Egypt supplied by the former USSR in 1958. The reactor is owned and operated by Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, 40–60 kilometers northeast of Cairo.
ETRR-1 is the second oldest research reactor in the Middle East after the Israeli IRR-1 reactor.
The reactor is a Light Water tank type WWR 2 MW research reactor with an initial fuel load of 3.2 kg 10% enriched uranium U235 (EK-10) imported from Russia, since then the reactor had never been refueled.
In the 1980s ETRR-1 reactor was shut down to modernize and extend the reactor's operability by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In March 2001 and July 2002, the IAEA was investigating on the environmental samples which was taken from the ETRR-1's hot cells that revealed traces of actinides and fission products, which was explained by Egypt in July 2003, that the presence of the particles was attributed by a damaged nuclear fuel cladding resulted in contamination of the reactor water that penetrated the hot cells from irradiated sample cans.
In 2004/2005, an investigation by IAEA discovered that between 1999 and 2003, Egypt conducted about 12 unreported experiments performed using a total of 1.15 g of natural uranium compounds and 9 thorium samples had been irradiated and conducted at the ETRR-1 to test the production of fission product isotopes for medical purposes. The irradiated compounds had been dissolved in three laboratories located in the Nuclear Chemistry Building with no plutonium or U-233 was separated during these experiments.
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