Yesterday, SÚJB made this decision in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 paragraph 1 letter b) of the Act No 263/2016 Coll., the Atomic Act.
Even though the world seems to be upside down these days and there is only a little good news, we have one for you. After more than one year of assessment, long discussions with the applicant and thorough work on both sides, SÚJB could have issued the permit on construction of the subcritical experimental assembly VR-2 today. It is a special nuclear facility that uses an external neutron source for maintaining the fission reaction. Because of that, the nuclear facility is inherently safe.
The subcritical assembly VR-2 will be used for educational and research purposes at Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE) at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) and it will expand the operation capacity of successfully operating educational and experimental reactor VR-1. The demand for the education on this unique educational reactor at FNSPE CTU still grows and the new subcritical assembly will cover the educational needs of a larger number of students from the Czech Republic and from abroad.
The assessment of the preliminary safety analysis report and attached documentation requested according to the Atomic Act was done by the team of experts of SÚJB in cooperation with the State Institute for Radiation Protection. It is the first construction permit of a nuclear facility with nuclear reactor which is issued by SÚJB in accordance with the current Atomic Act. The next step will be issuing of the operating licence from SÚJB, for which the CTU plans to apply in the near future.