Russia has announced the installation of the reactor pressure vessel for Bolivia’s first nuclear research reactor under construction at a $300m (€284m) nuclear complex near the city of El Alto in the west of the country.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom also said a ceremony had been held to inaugurate an irradiation facility at the site. The irradiation facility will be used for radiation treatment of agricultural products, Rosatom said.

The ceremony was attended by Bolivia’s president Luis Arce with Rosatom director-general Alexei Likhachev attending via videoconference.