The Russian sate nuclear corporation said pilot operation began for the centre’s first industrial facilities – a cyclotron radiopharmacy complex and a multipurpose irradiation centre.
Rosatom has been working on the $300m (€290m) project since 2017 when the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency and JSC State Specialised Design Institute, a Rosatom subsidiary, signed a construction contract.
The facility will also include a water-cooled research reactor with nominal power of up to 200 kW, engineering facilities, and various laboratories.
First concrete for the project was poured in July 2021. The cyclotron and radiopharmacy complex and the irradiation centre were scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2021, while a research reactor is to be completed in 2024.
Rosatom has said the nuclear research complex will be used to produce radiopharmaceuticals to help carry out more than 5,000 cancer diagnostics and treatment procedures per year, and perform radiation treatment of agricultural products, and help train qualified personnel for the nuclear industry.
“Once all the tests have been completed and the required licenses from Bolivian regulators received, the cyclotron radiopharmacy complex will begin supplying radiopharmaceuticals to Bolivian clinics,” said Evgeny Pakermanov, president of Rusatom Overseas, a Rosatom export subsidiary.
Bolivia has no other nuclear research facilities or commercial reactor units in operation.
