On Tuesday June 6th, 2023, the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague launched the second training fission nuclear reactor VR-2.
The VR-2 reactor is of the subcritical type, and so without an external source of neutrons it cannot sustain a fission chain reaction. If the external supply of neutrons is disconnected, fission stops. Therefore, the reactor operation is easier, safer, and its design parameters significantly less demanding.
The fuel for VR-2 was donated in 2018 by the Aalto University of Finland. Its construction was facilitated by situating the VR-2 reactor in the same reactor hall as the VR-1, the hall as such already complying with the placement regulations for VR-1 and still offering enough space for both.
"With the new VR-2 fission reactor teaching and research activities will be easier to schedule, because with the VR-1 we have been facing capacity limits. VR-1 serves not only students from our home Faculty but also students from other faculties at CTU and other universities; it is open to train foreign students and even staff from industry," explains the Dean of FNSPE, Associate Professor Václav Čuba. In cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) VR-1 was equipped with the Internet Reactor Laboratory System, so on-line teaching and training has been possible and is made use of by students from abroad, e.g. the USA, Great Britain, and Tunisia, and other.
