National Nuclear Laboratory
The National Nuclear Laboratory (Martino: Laboratorio Nacional de Energía Nuclear, LNEN) is a government agency of the Department of Energy and Environment of Nouvelle Alexandrie. It provides nuclear science, technology, and innovation expertise covering the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Its main mission is to preserve and develop key research and development capabilities for the nuclear energy industry. LNEN publishes a quarterly magazine, "Futuro Nuclear", in which it compiles technical papers, essays, and interviews from the nuclear industry.
History
LNEN was founded in 1692 AN under the New Prosperity Plan to consolidate and expand capabilities in nuclear science research and innovation. The establishment of LNEN allowed for the advancement and construction of new nuclear energy technology, with nuclear power growing to over 11% of annual power generation for Nouvelle Alexandrie by 1715 AN.
In 1724 AN, the Department of Research and Development transferred responsibilities of the National Isotopes Facility in Punta Santiago to LNEN, expanding its mandate to include nuclear medicine and isotope production. LNEN was also involved in the initial discovery of Alexandrium in 1729 AN, and collaborated closely with the National Energy Commission to develop and construct the first microreactors capable of Alexandrium-derived power generation.
In 1738 AN, the Frontera Program allocated a record €8.4 billion to LNEN to expand and upgrade its facilities, which led to the construction of a major new center near Parap specialised in fusion power research.
Facilities
Central Laboratory
The official headquarters of LNEN are located near Cárdenas, the capital of Nouvelle Alexandrie. The so-called Central Laboratory (Martino: Laboratorio Central, LC) is located on a 20-hectare campus and features four main buildings.
- The Main Building houses administrative offices that manage the other facilities of LNEN located nationwide; as well as lecture halls, a conference center, and a specialised library. It is also home to the National Nuclear Museum, providing exhibitions on the history of nuclear energy, prototypes, and nuclear science innovations.
- The Reactor Design Building facilitates the testing of new nuclear reactors with the intention of selecting new designs for power generation and other tasks. Over the decades, a number of experimental reactors have been constructed and tested, including:
- The Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (Martino: Reactor Avanzada de Agua Pesada, RAAP), which operated between 1694 AN and 1698 AN. It was built as a demonstration reactor to showcase AHWR technology, but was replaced in favour of gas-cooled reactors.
- The Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (Martino: Reactor Avanzada Refrigerado por Gas, RARG), which operated between 1694 AN and 1710 AN. It became the template for a total of eight nuclear power plants throughout Nouvelle Alexandrie.
- The Very-High-Temperature Reactor (Martino: Reactor de Muy Alta Temperatura, RMAT), which operated between 1712 AN and 1724 AN, using Pebble-bed technology in conjunction with HTGR. It effectively replaced AGR as the main nuclear power reactor type in Nouvelle Alexandrie by 1730 AN.
- The Molten-Salt Reactor (Martino: Reactor de Sales Fundidales, RSF), which began operation in 1728 AN. It is built to showcase MSR technology, however it has not yet been able to replace HTGR as the main nuclear power reactor type.
- The Nuclear Fuel Building focuses on research on nuclear fuel production, waste management, and radioactivity, in order to improve fuel efficiency and eliminate radiation dangers.
- The Decommissioning Building provides technical expertise to industry partners and government agencies on decommissioning operations, including radioactive waste, shutdown safety, and environmental restoration.
Potosí Nuclear Fuel Factory
The Potosí Nuclear Fuel Factory (Martino: Fábrica de Combustible Nuclear de Potosí, FCNP), also known as PotosíNuclear, is a secondary facility supporting the operations of the Central Laboratory. It provides the bulk of nuclear fuel production for Nouvelle Alexandrie's nuclear power stations, as well as international customers. It has four main building.
- The Main Building houses administrative offices, a lecture hall, a conference hall, and a specialised library.
- The Oxide Fuel Plant produces oxide fuels for advanced gas-cooled and heavy water reactors, as well as intermediate fuel products (including Uranium Dioxide powders, granules, and pellets).
- The Hex Fuel Plants produces Uranium Hexafluoride (or 'hex') for enriching uranium in nuclear reactors.
- The Fuel Cycle Processing Plant processes fuel-cycle residues, in particular those produced by gas-cooled reactors.
FCNP also has a large area for the containment of radioactive waste through the use of both dry cask storage and a deep geological repository for the storage of transuranic radioactive waste.
Nuclear Isotope Facility
The Nuclear Isotope Facility (Martino: Instalación de Isótopos Nucleares, IIN) in Punta Santiago, the capital of Alduria, is the nation's largest supplier of both medical and research isotopes. It is located on a 20-hectare campus and features six main buildings.
- The Main Building houses administrative offices, lecture halls, a conference center, and a specialised library. It also houses the National Isotopes Museum, showcasing exhibitions on the history of medical and research isotopes, reactor designs, and nuclear science innovation.
- The Linear Accelerator Isotope Plant produces isotopes for both medical and research purposes through the application of linear acceleration of protons. It consists of a 30 m beam line with 200 MeV capacity. It also provides non-isotope irradiations for materials research to improve isotope production and nuclear science.
- The Low-Energy Accelerator Plant combines linear acceleration with a VDG electron accelerator to study radiation effects in radioisotope separation, purification, and targetry methods.
- The High Flux Isotope Reactor is a light-water cooled and moderated reactor that produces radioisotopes for nuclear research, using Uranium-235 as fuel.
- The Medical Cyclotron Facility produces medical radioisotopes through cyclotron acceleration of either proton, deuteron, helium-3, or alpha particle beams. It is the nation's largest producer of medical radioisotopes for cancer treatments.
- The Radiochemical Processing Laboratory prepare radioisotopes for use in medical, research, and non-lethal military applications, using products provided by the other facilities.
Rimarima Nuclear Facility
The Rimarima Nuclear Facility (Martino: Instalación Nuclear de Rimarima, INR) is a uranium enrichment facility providing the bulk of uranium enrichment services for Nouvelle Alexandrie. It processes both natural uranium for civil use, manages and stores depleted uranium, and aids in decommissioning of enriched uranium reactors. Since 1724 AN, it has ceased military production of enriched uranium, only producing low enriched uranium for civil use. It has four main buildings.
- The Main Building houses administrative offices, a lecture hall, a conference hall, and a specialised library.
- The Gas Centrifuge Plant produces low-enriched uranium through the use of gas centrifuging. It produces the bulk of enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power plants in Nouvelle Alexandrie.
- The Advanced Fuels Plant produces high-assay low-enriched uranium for use in small and advanced modular reactors, and was constructed in 1738 AN to aid research and development of SMEs.
- The Hex Processing Plant de-converts depleted uranium tails of uranium hexafluoride to a more stable uranium oxide compound to ensure long-term storage and disposal.
INR, like FCNP, has a large radioactive waste containment facility with dry cask storage.
Nuclear Reprocessing Facility
The Nuclear Reprocessing Facility (Martino: Instalación de Reprocesamiento Nuclear) near Ravaillac, the capital of New Caputia, was constructed in 1743 AN to create a new nuclear fuel reprocessing plant to process depleted nuclear fuel rods, as well as store spent nuclear fuel. Its core process is in separating Uranium for the use new nuclear fuel, and Plutonium for mixed oxide fuel, in order to reduce spent nuclear fuel production. This has managed to extend life cycles of nuclear power plants significantly. It has two main buildings.
- The Main Building houses administrative offices, a lecture hall, a conference hall, and a specialised library.
- The Fuel Reprocessing Plant reprocesses nuclear fuel to produce enriched uranium and plutonium for mixed oxide fuel.
National Nuclear Fusion Reactor
The National Nuclear Fusion Reactor (Martino: Reactor de Fusión Nuclear Nacionál, RFNN) near Parap, the capital of Wechua, is a prototype fusion power plant based on a spherical tokamak configuration. Construction began in 1740 AN, and the first Phase was completed in 1749 AN. When completed, it will feature six main buildings.
- The Main Building (1743 AN) houses administrative offices, meeting rooms, an auditorium, a library, a canteen, lecture halls, and a visitor center. It also houses the National Fusion Museum, showcasing exhibitions on the history of nuclear fusion and development of the RFNN site.
- The Control Building (1744 AN) houses the main control room, a server room, offices and meeting rooms, a leisure area, open spaces, and a public gallery.
- The Neutral Beam Test Facility (1746 AN) provides testing for one of the main operations of the tokamak fusion power generation - neutral beam injection. For this, they utilise negative ion technology.
- The Cryoplant (1749 AN) provides extensive cooling power for the immense needs of the magnets of the tokamak complex once operational. It includes three liquid helium refrigerators and a 1,400 m3 vacuum vessel.
- The Cooling Tower Area (Scheduled 1752 AN) provides cooling water and heat exchange for the main reactor area and power systems of the tokamak complex.
- The Power Conversion Building (Scheduled 1755 AN) provides the main switchyard capabilities required to power the 10,000 tonnes of superconducting magnets inside the tokamak design.
- The Tokamak Complex (Scheduled 1755 AN) is the main facility of the RFNN, consisting of the main 7-stories tall tokamak (120 m long and 80 m wide); as well as auxiliary systems such as heating, ventilation, power, network, and sensors.
Organisation
The LNEN is overseen directly by the Department of Energy and Environment. It is led by an Executive Team, which is in charge of daily operations of the organisation, overseen by a Director, who is assisted by:
- Chief Science Officer, in charge of scientific programming and nuclear research.
- Chief Nuclear Officer, in charge of nuclear operations, including safeguarding, engineering, and waste management.
- Chief Operations Officer, in charge of facilities administration, logistics, and procurement.
- Chief Finance Officer, in charge of budgeting, finances, and auditing.
- Chief Customer Officer, in charge of public relations, training, and industrial collaboration.
The Executive Team is assisted by a Board, which oversees the activities of LNEN. Its members include both academic and industrial experts, and is led by a Chair.
Divisions
LNEN is divided into multiple divisions, including four research divisions, seven service departments, and one executive office:
- Director
- Chief Operations Officer
- Department of Administration & Planning
- Department of Facilities
- Chief Science Officer
- Nuclear Energy Division
- Office of Fuel
- Office of Enrichment and Processing
- Isotopes Division
- Office of Nuclear Medicine
- Office of Research Isotopes
- Decommissioning Division
- Fusion Division
- Nuclear Energy Division
- Chief Customer Officer
- Industry Collaboration Office
- Office of Public Engagement
- Office of Nuclear Education
- Chief Nuclear Officer
- Department of Nuclear Safety
- Department of Containment & Waste Management
- Chief Operations Officer
Support departments oversee finance, HR, technical services, IT infrastructure, and public relations. CIFA also operates three advisory boards:
- Nuclear Research and Innovation Council
- Security and Ethics Council
- Non-Proliferation Council
Research
Aside from receiving funding through the Department of Energy and Environment to perform fundamental and applied research into nuclear science, LNEN established the Associates Grants Program (Martino: Programa de Subvenciones para Asociados, PSA), also known as Invención Nuclear (InNuc) in 1738 AN to provide match-funding grants to public and private research. As of 1746 AN, the program has funded over €600 million in research for nuclear energy, medicine, and fusion research. InNuc is divided into three separate programs:
- Core Science (€50 million): provides match-funding and technical expertise for researchers and industrial partners to advance fundamental and applied nuclear science, including safeguarding and waste management.
- Innovation (€250 million): provides match-funding and technical expertise for engineers and industrial partners to test and develop new technologies, methods, and concepts. LNEN operates an open-source platform, NuFronta, to collaborate and exchange innovation and ideas.
- Strategic Research (€300 million): provides match-funding and technical expertise to industrial partners on maintaining, upgrading, and expanding domestic and international civil nuclear industry, including nuclear power, medicine, and fusion technology.
