By: Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, August 11, 2022
On August 5, the Russian state corporation Rosatom began test operations of the first industrial facilities of the Center for Research and Development of Nuclear Technology (CIDTN), located in the city of El Alto, Bolivia. According to evaluations, this Rosatom project will be fully operational in 2025.
The first facility is the Cyclotron-Radiopharmacy and Preclinical Complex (CCRP), which will provide Bolivian nuclear medicine centers with radiopharmaceuticals for clinical trials, enabling more than 5,000 patients a year to undergo medical examinations with advanced drugs.
“Already today, at the Cyclotron Complex, Bolivian students who have passed the full training cycle receive fluorodeoxyglucose, a very important radiopharmaceutical for the diagnosis of oncological diseases,” said Yevgeny Pakermanov, president of Rusatom Overseas, the company carrying out the project.
He added that “for the first time in the history of Bolivia” it was possible to obtain technetium, an element that due to technological difficulties can only be produced in a few countries in the world. According to Pakermanov, after completion of all tests and obtaining the necessary licenses from the nuclear regulator, the complex will start supplying radiopharmaceuticals to medical facilities.
Another facility, the Multipurpose Irradiation Center (MIRC), equipped with an industrial gamma ray unit, is capable of treating more than 70 tons of agricultural products per day, thus extending their shelf life. In addition, it can be used to sterilize medical articles.
The CIDTN, which includes a nuclear reactor located at an altitude of about 4,000 meters above sea level, is a joint project of the Russian nuclear technology company Rosatom and the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN). To date, the first two stages of construction have been completed, while work continues on the third and fourth stages, which include the reactor complex and laboratory buildings. All work is expected to be completed in three years.
This material from the Actualidad RT portal was edited for clarity, style and length.
Source Actualidad RT in Spanish: https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/438106-centro-nuclear-bolivia-rosatom-operativo-2025
Photo: Rosatom
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