African Unification Front
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OVERVIEW OF THE AU's NUCLEAR MATRIX
A technician minds the Triga II Nuclear Reactor at Kinshasa
Most of the African Union's nuclear reactors are TRIGA II reactors. TRIGA stands for "Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics. The first TRIGA reactor in the African Union was built by the Belgians in 1958 in Kinshasa DRC, as part of American President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace Program.
TRIGA reactors are the most widely used non-power nuclear reactor in the world. GA has sold 66 TRIGA reactors, which are in use or under construction at universities, government and industrial laboratories, and medical centers in 24 countries. GA's reactors are used in many diverse applications, including production of radioisotopes for medicine and industry, treatment of tumors, nondestructive testing, basic research on the properties of matter, and for education and training.
These reactors operate at thermal power levels from less than 0.1 to 16 megawatts, and are pulsed to 22,000 megawatts. The high power pulsing is possible due to the unique properties of GA's uranium-zirconium hydride fuel, which provides unrivaled safety characteristics. The safety features of this fuel also permit flexibility in siting, with minimal environmental effects. TRIGA International, a joint venture company with CERCA of France, manufactures and sells TRIGA fuel to research reactors.
 GA's Triga I reactor achieved initial criticality for the Nuclear Science Commission, Kinshasa in 1959. It was subsequently shut down. GA's Triga II achieved initial criticality in 1972 and is considered still operational.
Kinshasa's reactor is an indirect spin-off of the Americans Second World War atomic bomb project. The uranium for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was mined in what was then the Belgian Congo. After the war, the US rewarded Belgium with its own nuclear centre. In 1958, when Brussels thought it would hold onto its colony for many years, Belgium built the Kinshasa reactor, the first in Africa. Two years later, the DRC won its independence. The reactor - updated with a new model in the mid-1970's - is principally used for medical and genetic research. The latest experiments include bombarding corn with neutrons. The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna makes yearly inspections and helps meet the running costs. But it can only offer suggestions and has no authority to shut the reactor down."
In its annual report for 2000, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said "Missions in 2000 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria found the situation (with regard to nuclear safety) in each case to be significantly improved." The Congo has been participating in the IAEA's Model Project "Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure."
The nuclear rods from Kinshasa’s Triga II reactor went missing a couple of years ago. The US was at the time tryinng to get them back. The missing rods then showed up in the hands of the Italian Mafia, for sale to unspecified Mideast countries. In March 1998 when Italian authorities seized a Triga fuel element shipped to the DR Congo in the early 1970s, the first and most complete information provided to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) came from the US Department of Energy/FBI's Credibility Assessment Team (CAT) nuclear smuggling and illicit sales database.
NEW PROJECTS
General Atomics has started work on a contract awarded by the Kingdom of Morocco for the design and construction of a fully equipped nuclear research reactor facility. This facility will be commissioned as part of a Nuclear Energy Center, being constructed by the National Center for Nuclear Science, Energy and Technology (CNESTEN) of Morocco. The Center, located approximately 25 kilometers north of the city of Rabat in the Maâmora Forest, will enable CNESTEN to fulfill its missions for promotion of nuclear technology in Morocco, contribute to the implementation of a national nuclear power program, and assist the State in monitoring nuclear activities for protection of the public and environment.
The reactor building will include General Atomics' TRIGA® Mark II research reactor with a power level of 2000 kW(t), with the capability of being upgraded to a 3,000-kilowatt facility. The facility will be the keystone structure of the Center, and will contain in addition to the TRIGA research reactor, extensively equipped laboratories and all associated support systems, structures, and supply facilities. General Atomics as prime contractor will oversee and direct all facets of the project that includes the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of the TRIGA reactor. Once operational, the Center with its TRIGA reactor and fully equipped laboratories will give the Kingdom of Morocco extensive capabilities to perform a variety of functions. These will include the production of radioisotopes for medical, industrial and environmental uses, metallurgy and chemistry, implementation of nuclear analytical techniques such as neutron activation analysis and non-destructive examination techniques, as well as carrying out basic research programs in solid state and reactor physics. The project is being carried out on a turnkey basis and is scheduled to take 30 months to complete.
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