Introduction

Our Main Achievements

The Reactor has been playing important role in developing nuclear technology and safety culture in Slovenia. It is one of a few centres of modern technology in the country. 

Its international cooperation and reputation are important for promotion of Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenian science and Slovenia in the World.

Practical benefits can be divided into three categories like the purpose of the reactor: training, research and isotope production:

• Training
• Research
• Isotope production

Training

• practically all nuclear professionals in Slovenia started their career or attended practical training courses at TRIGA Reactor (including all professors of nuclear engineering and reactor physics at Ljubljana and Maribor University, as well as directors and key personnel of NPP Krško, Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration and Agency for Radioactive Waste).
• all NPP Krško Reactor operators and other technical staff pass training courses on TRIGA Reactor.
• the Reactor is used in regular laboratory exercises for graduate and post graduate students of Physics (First cycle degrees) and Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering, at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ljubljana University.
• On-the-job training for IAEA trainees from developing counties (in average 2 per year) is important for promotion of IJS and Slovenian science.
• Reactor has been used in several international training courses reactor is open to the visitors, more than 500 per year, mainly schools.

Research

• Reactor has been used in research work published in approx. 300 scientific papers and more than 600 published conference reports.
• More than 20 Ph. D. research works, more than 30 M. Sc. degree works and more than 100 Diploma works have been performed using the reactor.

Isotope Production

• Total number of patients treated with radio-isotopes produced in the reactor is more than 50.000 (mainly radioactive technetium).
• 10-20 industrial sealed sources per year (mainly cobalt), in total several hundred.
• Several special radioactive sources (e.g. radioactive sodium in soluble compound for turbine testing in Krško NPP).
• Dopiranje polprevodnikov.

Posredni učinki

Vzdrževanje tehnološkega nivoja pri obratovanju reaktorja že od vsega začetka spodbuja uvajanje najnovejših tehnoloških dosežkov, ki se kasneje široko uveljavijo:

• za potrebe reaktorskih preračunov smo na IJS že v šestdesetih letih nabavili prvi elektronski računalnik (ZUSE), s čemer se je začel tudi razvoj računalništva;
• na reaktorju smo med prvimi uporabili mikroprocesorje za vodenje procesov;
• že v začetku sedemdesetih let smo uvedli računalniško zajemanje podatkov in nadzor nad eksperimenti;
• v odseku za reaktorsko fiziko so za potrebe preračunov reaktorja TRIGA nabavili prvi zmogljiv osebni računalnik na IJS (IBM PC XT).