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| KAERI President Park Won-seok, second from left, receives an International Centre based on Research Reactors (ICERR) designation letter from IAI Acting Director General Cornel Feruta, second from right, on the sidelines of the nuclear energy control body's conference in Vienna, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KAERI |
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been designated as a research center of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, the state-run institute said Wednesday.
KAERI said it was chosen for the IAEA's International Centres based on Research Reactors (ICERR) program on the sidelines of the international nuclear energy control body's 63rd general conference held in Vienna, Tuesday (local time).
The ICERR program was launched in 2014 to provide scientists with access to research reactor infrastructure and opportunities to carry out nuclear research.
With the designation, KAERI will be able to offer a wide range of nuclear science facilities including its High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) and education and training activities in nuclear science to researchers from IAEA members.
The IAES recognized the advancement of the HANARO saying the reactor "was a highly versatile research reactor which can be used for applications ranging from neutron activation analysis to the testing of new nuclear fuel types."
"The ICERR scheme is designed to foster international cooperation and contribute to capacity-building by facilitating access to world-class research reactors and associated facilities," said Cornel Feruta, acting director general of the IAEA.
KAERI is now one of six ICERR members along with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission; the Russian Research Institute of Atomic Reactors State Scientific Centre; the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre; and the United States' Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"We are committed to playing our role as an ICERR center so as to contribute to advancing the development of research reactors and promoting the utilization of related facilities," said Park Won-seok, president of KAERI. "We look forward to providing a broad range of services in education, training and collaborative research."
