| Country | Argentina (Argentine Republic) |
| Facility Name | RA-3 |
| Facility Number | AR-0002 |
| Status | OPERATIONAL |
| Last Updated | 2010/02/10 |
| General Data |
| Owner | COMISION NACIONAL DE ENERGIA ATOMICA |
| Operator | RA-3 REACTOR |
| Licensing | ARN |
| Construction Date | 1963/02/01 |
| Criticality Date | 1967/05/17 |
| Safeguards | AIEA/ABACC |
| Initial Cost | 10 M US$ |
| Annual Cost | 1.2 M US$ |
| Total Staff | 60 |
| No of Operators | 20 |
| Technical Data |
| Reactor Type | POOL |
| Thermal Power, Steady (kW) | 10,000.00 |
| Max Flux SS, Thermal (n/cm2-s) | 8E13 |
| Max Flux SS, Fast (n/cm2-s) | 2.5E14 |
| Thermal Power, Pulsed (MW) | 0.00 |
| Max Flux Pulsed, Thermal (n/cm2-s) | |
| Max Flux Pulsed, Fast (n/cm2-s) | |
| Moderator | LIGHT WATER |
| Coolant | LIGHT WATER |
| Natural Convection Cooling | if <400kW |
| Forced Cooling | YES, max. flow 1350m3/h |
| Coolant Velocity in Core | 4.2 M/S |
| Reflector | GRAPHITE |
| Reflector Number of Sides | 4 |
| Control Rods Material | AG,IN,CD |
| Control Rods number | 4, EACH WITH 2 BLADES |
| Experimental Facilities |
| Horizontal Channels | 7 |
| Horizontal Max Flux (n/cm2-s) | 1.0E07 |
| Horizontal Use | research in BNCT |
| Vertical Channels | 6 |
| Vertical Max Flux (n/cm2-s) | 2.2e14 |
| Vertical Use | radioisotope production, NAA, fuel & material studies |
| Core Irradiation Facilities | 5 |
| Core Max Flux (n/cm2-s) | 2.2e14 |
| Reflector Irradiation Facilities | 1 |
| Loops Number | 2 removable rigs |
| Loops Max Flux | |
| Loops use | 2 removable rigs with controled temperature for irradiation demage studies |
| Fuel data |
| Origin of Fissile Material | USA |
| Enrichment Supplier | USA |
| Equilibrium Core Size | 27 |
| Plates per Element | 19 |
| Dimensions of Plates | 1.5X70.5X755 |
| Rods per Element | |
| Dimensions of Rods, mm | |
| Tubes per Element | |
| Dimensions of Tubes, mm | |
| Cladding Material | AL ALLOY |
| Cladding Thickness, mm | 0.4 |
| Fuel Material | UO2-AL |
| Fuel Thickness, mm | 0.7 |
| Uranium Density, g/cm3 | 2.99 |
| Burnup on Discharge, max % | 55 |
| Burnup Average, % | 28 |
| Last Shipment Year | 2009 |
| Last Receipt Year | 2009 |
| Fuel Fabricator | CNEA, ARGENTINA |
| Utilization |
| Hours per Day | 24 |
| Days per Week | 5 |
| Weeks per Year | 46 |
| MW Days per Year | 1230 |
| Materials/fuel test experiments | Number of runs: 2 |
| Isotope Production | Mo-99, I-131, Cr-51, Sm-153, Ir-192 |
| 851000 | |
| Neutron Scattering | NO |
| Neutron Radiography | NO |
| Neutron capture therapy | Patients irradiated: N/A |
| Activation Analysis | N/A |
| 105 | |
| Transmutation | NO |
| Geochronology | NO |
| Teaching | NO |
| Training | Number of operators/experimenters trained: 6 |
| Other Uses | BNCT for animals and human cells |
| Operating Experience |
| Reactor | Thermal Power | Date of | Operational for | |||
| Category | Type | kW | Criticality | Construction | Years | Months |
| RESEARCH | POOL | 10000.00 | 1967/05/17 | 1963/02/01 | 43 | 9 |