Established on March 26, 1970 on the basis of nuclear physics departments of the Institute of Physics. Its basic research areas are:
- nuclear physics (fundamental & applied research in nuclear science and engineering);
- atomic energy (physics of nuclear reactors and radiation safety of NPPs);
- solid state physics (radiation physics of solids and radiation materials science);
- plasma physics (fundamental and applied studies in plasma physics and chemistry);
- radiobiology and radioecology (radiation monitoring within NPP influence zones; studies of biological effects of ionizing radiation).
The major achievements and developments of the Institute are:
- The existence of two-humped fission barrier of heavy nuclei was discovered in 1978.
- For the first time ever, memory effects in nuclear collective motion were studied in detail and shown to have a significant effect on nuclear dynamics.
- Excitation of nuclei in the annihilation of positrons with electrons of atoms was found.
- The first-ever measurements of g-factors of nuclear excitation state on the accelerator beam were taken. The anomaly of nucleon orbital magnetism in nuclei was found. A world’s best high-resolution magnetic beta-spectrometer was developed.
The shell effect of neutron inelastic scattering cross-section dependence of the nucleon number in nuclei and the isotope dependence of compound nucleus level density was found. A bank of neutron-constant data for structural materials of nuclear reactors was created.
The process of deuteron break-up in the field of nuclei with different mass numbers was studied in detail for the first time in cinematically complete experiments. It was found that the differential cross-sections of deuteron break-up change non-monotonously with the change in nuclear mass number and achive maximum for the magic nuclei. This phenomenon is known in nuclear-science literature as ‘Nemets effect’.
The effect of accompanying particles’ external field on parameters of short-lived nuclear resonances excited in many-particle reactions was discovered and theoretically validated.
The effect of mechanical resistance on the imbrittlement of reactor-core steel, due to neutron irradiation, was studied. This is of importance for determining operation life of power- generating reactor vessels.
A technology for renewal of Sharpie-type irradiated reference specimens for WWER-1000 reactors was developed to ensure reliable control of NPP equipment aging.
A state-of-the-art system to monitor pressure-vessel neutron fluency was developed and implemented at Ukrainian NPPs. It allows one to obtain very important data necessary for providing power unit safety operation and for effective radiation life-time management.
Experimentally found and theoretically validated were the phenomena of super-conductivity induced by nuclear irradiation.
Produced were materials with improved radiation resistance, in particular those for semiconductor detectors of nuclear irradiation.
Institute for nuclear research National academy of sciences of Ukraine
Research Reactor WWR-M WWR-M is a pool-type reactor with the power 10 MW with the maximum neutron flux in the core up to 1,2·1014n/cm2 · s. The reactor has 27 vertical and 10 horizontal technological channels for performing scientific and applied research.
Isochronous Cyclotron U-240 The cyclotron permits to obtain the beams of protons with the slide control of their energy in the range of 8 - 80 MeV; the beams of deuterons with the energy 5 - 70 MeV and heavy ions up to the energy 140 Z2/A MeV, where Z is an ion charge, A is an ion mass. The energetic beam resolution is 10-2-10-3
Cyclotron U-120 The beams of protons, deuterons and a-particles with the energies 6,8 MeV, 13,6 MeV and 27,2 MeV, respectively, may be obtained on the cyclotron. Highest flux of the beam reaches 50 mkA. The beam monochromatic is 10-3. It is also possible to obtain the beams of nitrogen and carbon with the energies up to 1 MeV/nucleon.
10 MV Electrostatic Tandem Accelerator The tandem accelerator was put into operation in 1996. The beams of protons and deuterons with the energy in the range of 3 - 10 MeV and the beams of a-particles with the energies 5 - 15 MeV may be obtained on the accelerator. The heavy ions may be accelerated in tandem in the wide mass range. Beam flux reaches 5 mkA, monochromaticity is 10-3
Heavy protected boxes for the works with high radioactivity materials ("hot cells")
The Solotvina Underground Laboratory The Solotvina Underground Laboratory was created on March 14, 1982. Radioactive background rate in the Laboratory is one of the best in the world. This allowed to obtain priority results in investigations of the double beta decay of atomic nuclei and to set one of the best limits on the neutrino mass. New low-background scintillator detectors and spectrometers were developed, including those with enriched isotopes, for studies of rare nuclear decays, tests of conservation of lepton, baryon numbers and electrical charge, searches for dark matter. Two-neutrino double beta decay of cadmium-116, and alpha decays of tungsten-180 and europium-151 were observed at the first time.
Radiation Facility of KINR The radiation facility with electron accelerators was put into operation on October 23, 2003. It is used for the development of new technologies with the sources of ionized irradiation.