The Thai nuclear safety panel is expected to approve a safety analysis review for Thailand's long-delayed second research reactor, according to the secretary-general of the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace. Approval could lead to construction starting before the end of the year.
The nuclear safety panel was appointed to scrutinise six safety aspects of the project. The unit has been designed by the US company General Atomic. The company won the contract to build the 10 MW reactor in 1997 but a regulatory hitch delayed the project.
Thailand's regulations called for the safety analysis report to be reviewed by the sellers nuclear safety regulatory agency but both the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Oakridge National Laboratory declined to carry out the review because the reactor is located outside the USA.
Eventually the US Department of Energy appointed Argonne National Laboratory to review the analysis. Approval was finally granted last November. The new reactor, if built, will be used for both medical and commercial purposes. Thailand currently operates a 40 year old reactor but this has been unable to fulfil the nation's medical requirements.
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