China has expanded its formal cooperation with Russia’s Multipurpose Fast-Neutron Research Reactor (MBIR– Mnogotselevoi Bistrii Issledovatelskii Reaktor) International Research Centre (MTsI – Mezhdunarodnovo Tsentra Isledovanii) Consortium through commercial membership and scientific agreements. The MBIR reactor, under construction at the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR – Nauchno Issledovatelskii Institut Atomnikh Reaktorov) in Dimitrovgrad, is designed to be the world’s most powerful fast-neutron research facility.
The Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMPCAS) has signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement establishing a framework for joint research and future accession to the Consortium. IMP CAS representatives will join the MTsI MBIR Advisory Board and dedicated committees to shape the long-term research agenda. IMPCAS plans to pair its heavy-ion accelerator infrastructure with MBIR’s high-flux neutron capabilities to advance Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) technologies.
In December 2025, Shanghai ZDAN International, a nuclear logistics and high-tech supply firm, became the first Chinese organisation to join the MTsI MBIR Consortium as a Principal Member. Its membership facilitates technical cooperation and gives Chinese nuclear industry entities access to international programmes.
The Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPPCAS) signed a cooperation agreement with the Consortium leadership in June. The partnership focuses on using the reactor’s neutron capabilities for materials science and controlled nuclear fusion research.
Chinese institutions will use the platform to test structural materials and fuel compositions for advanced reactors, including liquid-metal-cooled, molten-salt, and high-temperature gas-cooled designs. Collaboration supports research into multiple fuel recycling and minor actinide burning to improve nuclear sustainability. Agreements cover radiation testing for fusion reactor components alongside the production of medical radioisotopes and modified materials.
MBIR is expected to provide the nuclear industry with a modern and technologically advanced research infrastructure for the coming 50 years. Comprehensive commissioning and initial physical start-ups remain targeted for 2027–2028.
“MBIR complements our accelerator base with neutron capabilities. The directions fixed in the agreement – ADS systems, neutron science – require just such experiments,” said Professor Yuan He, IMPCAS Deputy Director.
Vasily Konstantinov, Directo General of the MTsI MBIR Consortium, noted: “I am confident that the competencies of IMPCAS in physical research using heavy ions and accelerator technologies will be in demand when forming the MBIR research programme.”
IMPCAS, based in Lanzhou, is China’s largest scientific centre in the field of heavy ion physics and their applications. It operates the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) and is involved in the creation of the High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF). The Institute is also the lead organisation for the China Initiative Accelerator Driven System (CiADS) – an ADS demonstration system designed to test transmutation technologies. It conducts work on radiation materials science, nuclear medicine and related areas.
