The RV-1 nuclear reactor, now repurposed and known as Gamma rays sterilization plant ('Pegamma'; ''Spanish'': Planta de Esterilización por Rayos Gamma), is a facility located in Altos Mirandinos, Miranda,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. It was the only

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...

in Venezuela and one of the first reactors in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

. Currently, it is used as a

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic wav ...

facility for microbiological sterilization of surgical supplies, packaging, medicine and dry food.

Characteristics

The RV-1 was a pool-type material testing reactor (MTR) with a capacity of 3 megawatts of thermal power. It contained 20%

enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (2 ...

as core fuel and used light water as both

coolant A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corros ...

and neutron moderator.

History

During the regime of president

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 195 ...

, Venezuela became member of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1 ...

after purchasing the RV-1 reactor from

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

in 1956. The project was supported by the administration of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, to help promote the

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipmen ...

program, with the United States donating US$300,000 for the construction of the reactor. The reactor was constructed in the grounds of the Venezuelan Institute of Neurology and Brain Research (IVNIC, now known as IVIC -

Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), or ''Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas'', is a scientific research institute and graduate training center in Venezuela founded by government decree on February 9, 1959. It h ...

) under the supervision of Humberto Fernández-Morán; he never saw the project finished, as he went into exile after the Pérez Jiménez regime fell in 1958. The reactor reached criticality in 1960 and was used for several decades to perform physics research,

radiochemistry Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads t ...

, production of radioisotopes and as

neutron source A neutron source is any device that emits neutrons, irrespective of the mechanism used to produce the neutrons. Neutron sources are used in physics, engineering, medicine, nuclear weapons, petroleum exploration, biology, chemistry, and nuclear p ...

. RV-1 was last operated in March 1991 and the decision to permanently shutdown the reactor was made in 1997. The core was later dismantled and sent back to the United States.

Repurposing and cancelled sequels

The Venezuelan government approved 2.1 million dollars to repurpose the reactor in 2010. Under the name 'Pegamma', IVIC received the authorization in 2004 to use the renewed reactor facility as an industrial irradiation plant, with a

cobalt-60 Cobalt-60 (60Co) is a synthetic radioactive isotope of cobalt with a half-life of 5.2713 years. It is produced artificially in nuclear reactors. Deliberate industrial production depends on neutron activation of bulk samples of the monoisot ...

s source with a capacity of 1

megacurie The curie (symbol Ci) is a non- SI unit of radioactivity originally defined in 1910. According to a notice in ''Nature'' at the time, it was to be named in honour of Pierre Curie, but was considered at least by some to be in honour of Marie Curi ...

later announced plans to build a

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...

in 2010. The government signed an agreement with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

for the purchase and installation of two new nuclear reactors, but after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Repub ...

announced a halt to plans on building a nuclear power plant.

Notes

References

External links