The Only Research Reactor in Korea, 'Hanaro,' Begins Its 101st Operation

Planned Production of Various Medical Radioisotopes
Also Utilized in Diverse Research Such as Tracking Fine Dust Pollution Sources

Research Reactor 'HANARO' at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Photo by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The country's only research reactor, 'Hanaro,' is entering its 101st operation cycle.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (Director Park Won-seok) announced on the 24th that Hanaro will begin its 101st cycle operation from the 22nd and plans to complete it by the 20th of next month. Hanaro operates for 4 weeks per cycle, undergoing maintenance for 2 to 3 weeks each cycle. Hanaro is a high-performance multipurpose research reactor with a thermal output of 30MW, designed and constructed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. It is used for various purposes such as the production of radioactive isotopes and neutron applications. Previously, Hanaro completed its 100th cycle operation from May 7 to the 2nd of this month.

With Hanaro now fully operational, the production of I-131, a radioactive pharmaceutical used for pediatric cancer treatment, has become possible again. Going forward, 12 curies (Ci, where 1 curie equals the radiation amount of 1g of radium) will be regularly produced weekly at Hanaro. This amount is sufficient to meet the entire domestic demand for mIBG, a radioactive pharmaceutical used in pediatric cancer treatment.

The industrial nondestructive testing source Ir-192, which had been dependent on imports, will produce 30,000 curies during this 101st cycle, which is far below the annual domestic demand of about 200,000 curies by nondestructive source production companies. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute plans to increase production in the future.

Development of production technology for Lu-177, a therapeutic isotope with growing domestic and international demand, will also be actively pursued. Additionally, 48 experiments using neutron beams by domestic industry-academia-research collaborations are scheduled during this 101st cycle. In the neutron irradiation testing field, in-core tests of materials for fusion reactors and nuclear fuels for long-term research reactors will continue following the 100th cycle. In-core tests of high-density Fission Moly Target (a fission target for Mo-99 production) for medical isotope production and burn-up tests of SPND (Self-Powered Neutron Detector), a core material for long-life in-core detectors being developed for application in nuclear power plants, will also be conducted.

In the neutron activation analysis field, work will begin in earnest to analyze trace elements present in large amounts of fine dust and ultrafine dust collected from Seoul and Daejeon to track pollution sources by evaluating the characteristics of fine dust entering major domestic cities. Research will also be conducted to establish ultra-trace analysis technology for SiC (Silicon Carbide), which is gaining attention as a next-generation semiconductor device.

Before starting the 101st cycle operation of Hanaro, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute applied an artificial intelligence (AI)-based anomaly detection system during the maintenance period. This system analyzes operational data from past normal operation cycles using AI technology to find patterns and determines whether new operational data satisfies these patterns to judge anomalies. It can simultaneously analyze over 200 measurement signals and enables operators to predict and communicate abnormal situations more quickly.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute stated, "We expect to enhance the operational efficiency and stability of Hanaro by advancing the AI-based anomaly detection function through trial operation until the end of this year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.