Discussing reactor and new projects at meeting of PAC
for Condensed Matter Physics

Today, the 56th Meeting of the Programme Advisory Committee for Condensed Matter Physics has started in the International Conference Centre in a mixed format. Participants of the two-day event are discussing the status of the IBR-2 Reactor and considering new topics and projects to be included in the Topical Plan for JINR Research and International Cooperation in 2024.

The current event opens a series of meetings of the Programme Advisory Committees after a one-year break, during which specialists were intensively working on the new Seven-Year Plan for the Development of JINR 2024 – 2030 and the improvement of the JINR Topical Plan concept.

Addressing the participants of the PAC CMP meeting with a welcoming speech, JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov highlighted that the programme of the PAC CMP meeting will focus on the presentation of the status and further plans of the flagship projects of the Institute. JINR Director told participants of the event about the state of the art of the Institute. “The Institute is in excellent shape. 2022 was full of good scientific results in all areas of research. JINR continues actively developing cooperation despite external factors,” Grigory Trubnikov emphasised. Noting that it was possible to strengthen ties with India, Latin American countries, China, Japan, JINR Director expressed hope that the ambitious international scientific programme of the Institute will be implemented in 2023 through joint efforts.

Chairman of the Committee Dйnes Lajos Nagy opened the working programme of the meeting. He presented its participants with information on the implementation of the recommendations of the previous PAC CMP meeting. Vice Director Latchesar Kostov presented information on the Resolution of the 132nd session of the JINR Scientific Council (September 2022) and the decisions of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the JINR Member States (November 2022).

Director of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics JINR Valery Shvetsov spoke about the status of the IBR-2 Reactor, presenting the updated dates for the facility’s resumption of operation. New heat exchangers have been created and are currently being tested. In March-April, they will be delivered to the Laboratory. An FLNP team is going to install them in the summer of 2023. In April-May, it is expected that the Laboratory will receive an operating licence of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor). Afterwards, the reactor will be launched again in October 2023. According to experts, the user programme will be resumed from 2024. One of the FLNP plans for the next seven years will be the manufacturing of a new fuel load for IBR-2 in order to extend the reactor’s service life for the period after 2032. Specialists continue working on the study of the occurrence mechanism of fluctuations in the power pulses of the IBR-2 Reactor in cooperation with the N. A. Dollezhal Scientific Research and Design Institute of Energy Technologies and other organizations of Rosatom. Chief Engineer of the IBR-2 Facility Andrey Dolgikh presented to participants of the event the tasks and prospects for the reactor operation. During the meeting, the PAC CMP members are discussing the status of the IBR-2 Reactor and the scientific programme of the spectrometer complex.

The members of the Committee considered reports on the topics to be included in the Topical Plan for JINR Research and International Cooperation in 2024. They also discussed approaches to reviewing projects submitted for consideration at PAC and listened to information about the status and prospects for the scientific programmes of MLIT and DLNP.

On the second day of the Committee’s work, Elena Zavyalova will present to the meeting participants a scientific report “Diagnostics of socially significant diseases using affine track membranes modified with DNA aptamers”. Within the programme of the event, there will be a meeting of the PAC CMP members with the JINR Directorate and online poster presentations.