The Es-Salam research reactor at the Birine Nuclear Research Centre in Algeria on 20 February achieved first criticality and stable operation following an upgrade project carried out by China Zhongyuan Engineering Corp (CZEC), the overseas nuclear project platform of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Contracts for the upgrade of the Chinese-supplied 15 MWt reactor, which began operating in 1992, were signed by CZEC and the Birine Nuclear Research Centre in December 2014. In the 1980s, CZEC undertook the project of building the Birine Nuclear Research Centre and completed the project two months ahead of schedule, establishing the first milestone in the export of China's civil nuclear technology.
In May 2018, Minister of Energy Mustapha Guitouni announced that his ministry was drawing up a law framing the activities related to nuclear energy in Algeria. He told a press conference on the sidelines of an international workshop organised by the Atomic Energy Commission (Comena) that "the development programme of the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes requires implementation of an appropriate legal framework determining the conditions of exercising nuclear activities as well as rules of security and nuclear safety”.
The law lays the groundwork for nuclear energy to be introduced into Algeria's energy resources by 2030-2050, he said. He noted that some steps had already been taken including the creation of Comena in 1996, the building of Algeria’s two research reactors in Draria (Algiers) and Birine (at Ain Oussera, Djelfa), the creation of the Algerian institute of training in nuclear engineering in 2011 and the National Centre of nuclear security training and support in 2012.
Algeria’s civil nuclear research programme is based on two research reactors both under IAEA safeguards and supervised by Comena. The Argentinian company INVAP signed an agreement in 1985 to supply Algeria’s first research reactor (Nur) at the Draria nuclear complex. Construction began in 1987, and it reached criticality in 1989. The design is similar to that of Argentina’s RA-6 research reactor (a materials test reactor) but its man-machine interface was upgraded. The 1MWt pool-type light water reactor uses uranium fuel enriched up to 20% U-235. The fuel elements are plate-type with aluminum cladding. It is used for the laboratory-scale production of radioisotopes, research in neutron physics, and the training of reactor-operating personnel. The Draria site also houses a pilot fuel fabrication plant.
As part of the preliminary agreement between INVAP and the High Commission for Research of Algeria (now the Development Centre of Nuclear Techniques dependent on the Ministry for Scientific Research), Argentina trained more than 50 Algerian technicians and nuclear engineers using the RA-6 facilities in Bariloche. Algerian engineering companies were involved in the civil engineering infrastructure, the assemblage, and other building aspects of the NUR reactor.
Following the signing of a nuclear cooperation agreement with China in 1983, construction of Algeria’s second research reactor began in 1988. The 15MWt multi-purpose heavy water-moderated tank-type Es-Salam reactor at Birine, fuelled with 3% enriched uranium, achieved criticality in 1992. It is used for the production of radioisotopes, research in neutron physics, and the training of reactor-operating personnel. The Ain Oussera site also houses an isotope production plant, hot-cell laboratories, and waste-storage tanks.
Algeria accepted IAEA safeguards on the Es-Salam reactor in 1992 before it began operation in late 1993. Algeria joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in January 1995.
