Reactors: One (not operational)

Type: IIN-3M liquid (water-uranium salt), pulse reactor

Power: 10kWt (avg.) 200GW (max. per pulse)
[NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials,  June 1995 and May 1996.]

Fuel: Liquid salt HEU fuel.[1]  According to the Head of International Relations at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, the reactor fuel consists of 4.1kg of 90% HEU in the form of 22.4 liters of uranyl sulfate in water solution.[2]  The Radleg Project of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) indicates that the core contains 4.4kg of 90% HEU.[3]
Sources:
[1] NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials,  June 1995 and May 1996.
[2] NISNP correspondence with Uzbekistani physicist, Head of International Relations Department, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, 25 March 1997.
[3] International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, "International Science and Technology Center Project #245 Radleg," 1996, Kurchatov Institute Web Site, http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm.{Updated 3/12/01 KB}

Status: The Photon reactor has been shut down.  All nuclear material has been transferred to the Institute of Nuclear Physics.
[NISNP Interview with Uzbekistani physicist, June 2001, UZB010600.]{Entered 6/27/2001 KB}

Operator: According to NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials in 1995 and 1996, the Photon Radioelectrical Technical Plant operated the reactor.[1]  The Radleg Project of the International Science and Technology Center refers to the operator as Foton Commercial Corporation.[2]  This may be the same as the Foton Joint Stock Company, a large consumer electronics company in Tashkent that produced microcircuits for submarines during the Soviet era.[3,4]
Sources:
[1] NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials,  June 1995 and May 1996.
[2] International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, "International Science and Technology Center Project #245 Radleg," 1996, Kurchatov Institute Web Site, http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm.
[3] "O nas," OAO Foton Web Site, http://www.foton.uz/rus/home.htm.
[4] Artem Gorodnov, "Uzbekskoye predpriyatiye poluchit grant v 2 milliona dollarov," Segodnya, 22 May 1996, p. 9.{Updated 3/12/01 KB}

Activities: According to NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials in 1995 and 1996, the reactor was used to improve the properties of semi-conductor materials.[1]  A 1997 IAEA source states that the Photon reactor was used to test the effect of radiation on space equipment.[2]  The Radleg Project indicates that the reactor was used for neutron activation analysis.[3]
Sources:
[1] NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials,  June 1995 and May 1996.
[2] Kenji Murakami, "Verification in Newly Independent States," IAEA Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 4, December 1997, International Atomic Energy Agency Web Site, http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/.../murakami.html.
[3] International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, "International Science and Technology Center Project #245 Radleg," 1996, Kurchatov Institute Web Site, http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm.{Updated 3/12/01 KB}

Comments: According to Uzbekistani scientists, the research reactor was designed by the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow.
[NISNP interviews with Uzbekistani scientists and officials, June 1995 and May 1996.]

	Updated October 2005