Nuclear Area

Reactores RP-0 y RP-10 de Perú

RP-0 in Peru

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The first reactor of Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) was the Power Reactor RP-0, designed and constructed by the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) in collaboration with INVAP.  The civil works began in 1977 and the reactor first went critical in 1978.

This is a zero power installation (it produces between 1 and 10 thermal watts), located at IPEN headquarters in the city of Lima.  It is used for research and for personnel training in nuclear matters.  INVAP, which at the time was building the RA-6 Argentine Reactor, was in charge of all computerized, electronic and mechanical control systems of the Peruvian reactor. 

In the original RP-0 core, fuel rods were used.  In 1991, IPEN and CNEA adapted the reactor design to use the modern type of fuel used by its successor the RP-10.  INVAP took part in the redesign project.

RP-10 in Peru

The RP-10 power reactor was designed and constructed for the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) by the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), with collaboration of INVAP.

The reactor, that first went critical in 1988, is located at the Oscar Miroquesada De la Guerra nuclear facilities, in Huarangal, Lima.  INVAP was CNEA's main subcontractor, and provided the bridge that, above the open pool, handles sensors and control bars of the core.  INVAP also designed, constructed and mounted radiation detectors and the reactor computer control and command systems.

The RP-10, with a 10 MW power, is used for radioisotope production.  Furthermore, it is an educational unit, used to train personnel in irradiation of materials and for applied research in the fields of reactor physics and nuclear engineering.

Mounting the RP-0 Reactor Pool inside its concrete housingIn its 125 ha facilities, the Huarangal nuclear center, where the reactor is located, has a reactor experimental physics lab, a Radioisotope Production Plant, a dosimetry calibration lab and a radioactive waste handling plant, all designed and built by experts of both countries coordinated by the Argentine Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEA).

Technology transfer and personnel training were an important part of the agreement between both countries.