Soreq Nuclear Research Center is a research and development institute situated near the localities of

Palmachim Palmachim () is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about ten kilometers south of the Gush Dan, Tel Aviv area along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, among the sand dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gan Raveh Regional Council. In it h ...

and

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It operates under the auspices of the

Israel Atomic Energy Commission The Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC; ) is the governmental authority responsible for the State of Israel's activities in the nuclear field. History The establishment of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission was announced on 13 June 1952 by Pri ...

(IAEC) and under the supervision 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 technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

(IAEA).

History

The center conducts research in various physical sciences, particularly the development of many kinds of sensors,

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

s, atmospheric research,

non-destructive testing Nondestructive testing (NDT) is any of a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and technology industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. The terms nondestructive examination (NDE), n ...

techniques, space environment, nuclear safety, medical diagnostics and

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine (nuclear radiology, nucleology), is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactivity, radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging is, in a sense, ''radiology done inside out'', ...

. Soreq also produces various types of

radiopharmaceuticals Radiopharmaceuticals, or medicinal radiocompounds, are a group of pharmaceutical drugs containing radioactive isotopes. Radiopharmaceuticals can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Radiopharmaceuticals emit radiation themselves, which ...

for use by health care organizations throughout the country. Israeli nuclear reactor stamp 1960

Some of the institute's research facilities include an AMF 5 MW pool-type light water

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

supplied in the late 1950s from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

under 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 equipment ...

program and a 10

MeV In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written electron-volt and electron volt, is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt in vacuum. When us ...

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Januar ...

accelerator, as well as extensive laboratory and testing facilities. Currently under construction is a 5-40 MeV, 0.04-5 mA proton and deuteron superconducting

linear accelerator A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear ...

scheduled for commissioning in 2013. The center is named after the nearby stream of

Soreq Soreq Nuclear Research Center is a research and development institute situated near the localities of Palmachim and Yavne in Israel. It operates under the auspices of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) and under the supervision of th ...

. The center operates under the

safeguards In international trade law, a safeguard is a restraint to protect home or national industries from foreign competition. In the World Trade Organization (WTO), a member may take a safeguard action, such as restricting imports of a product tempo ...

of the

Architecture

Noted American modernist architect

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...

designed the center's building in 1956. The project was Johnson's first government commission. Dr.

Lev Zetlin Lev Zetlin (; July 14, 1918 – December 4, 1992) was an Israeli-American civil and structural engineer. Founder of the engineering consulting firm Lev Zetlin & Associates, he developed several innovations in structural engineering including the ...

, the structural engineer for this project, introduced Philip Johnson to Israeli authorities and facilitated his hiring. Zetlin, one of the most renowned practitioners of his profession, worked very closely with Johnson in the design and construction of the reactor. It was Zetlin who set the parameters and established the conditions for the architect and turned Johnson's ideas into reality. In an article in

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

, Prof. Zvi Efrat, an architect, historian of architecture and former head of the architecture department at the

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...

said: "The fact that Johnson of all people, with his Nazi-embracing past, was chosen is no less interesting than the architecture of the building. You can't possibly say that

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

didn't know. Not only Peres, but all the middlemen who brought him to Peres..." Johnson, who never visited the site, called it "my temple in the desert."The Nazi Who Built Israel a Nuclear Reactor: The Dark Side of Architect Philip Johnson"
''

References

External links

Official websiteSoreq Nuclear Research Center (SNRC)
NTI
The Radiological Accident in Soreq
International Atomic Energy Agency, May 1993
Центр ядерных исследований «Сорек»
{{authority control Research institutes in Israel Israeli nuclear development Nuclear research institutes Philip Johnson buildings

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links