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The Korean nuclear industry has grown and expanded tremendously since the late 1950s. It began with the groundbreaking of the TRIGA Mark-II research reactor in 1959, followed by steady progress toward technological self-reliance and localization. Today, Korean nuclear technology has reached a highly advanced level, demonstrated by the successful export of nuclear power plants such as the Barakah nuclear power plant (NPP) in the United Arab Emirates and the recent contract for the Dukovany new NPP project in the Czech Republic. Throughout this advancement, research reactors have played a pivotal role in both technological development and human resource training.
Kyung Hee University (KHU) established the department of nuclear engineering in 1980 with the construction of the AGN-201 research reactor. This reactor, originally installed at Colorado State University in 1967, was donated to KHU through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Since then, it has been utilized as an experimental facility dedicated to student education and training in nuclear engineering. In 2003, with funding support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (currently the Ministry of Science and ICT, MSIT), a four-year refurbishment project was carried out to address equipment aging and enhance reactor performance. As a result, the facility was reborn as AGN-201K, with its maximum operating power uprated by a factor of 100 and its systems modernized into a new reactor facility.
The AGN-201K reactor, the only zero-power research reactor in Rep. of Korea, has served as an open-access education, training, and research facility available to all students nationwide. It has played a key role in supporting the “Reactor Experiment” educational programs for nuclear engineering students in Rep. of Korea. Since 2007, the AGN-201K has trained an average of over 100 students annually, thereby contributing to nuclear science and engineering education in fulfillment of a national mission.
Reactor Research and Education Center (RREC) is an independent organization in KHU which has three major roles; operation of reactor for education and research, radiational safety inspection and control for the university students and staffs, and a representative body for domestic and international administration related to safety and safeguards with IAEA, KINAC, KINS, NSSC and MSIT.
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