DRR's BRIEF HISTORY 

• Early 1960: The construction of the TRIGA Mark II reactor started.
• February 26, 1963: The first criticality of the TRIGA reactor was achieved.
• March 4, 1963: The official inauguration of TRIGA reactor with the nominal thermal power of 250 kW took place.
• 1963-1968:  The  TRIGA  reactor  was  operating  with the three main purposes: Training, Research and Isotope production.
• 1968-1975: The TRIGA reactor was in extended shutdown.
• 1974-1975: TRIGA fuels were unloaded and shipped back to the United States of America (USA).
• October 9, 1979: The contract No. 85/096-54100 between SR of Vietnam and Former Soviet Union was signed for reconstructing and upgrading TRIGA reactor. The name of the reactor was changed to Russian meaning “IVV-9” or DRR as geographical name.
• March 15, 1982: It was the start-up of the reconstruction and upgrading work under the contract No. 85/096-54100.
• November 1, 1983 at 19:50: The first criticality of the IVV-9 reactor was achieved.
• March 20, 1984: The official inauguration of the IVV-9 reactor with the nominal thermal power of 500 kW took place.
• From March 20, 1984 until now: The reactor has been operating for:

- Radioisotopes production;

- Neutron activation analysis;

- Basic and applied research in nuclear physics;

- Research on reactor physics and thermo-hydraulics;

- Personnel training.

• From September, 2007 to May, 2011: The reactor was operated with the mixed core of HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium of 36% U-235) and LEU (Low Enriched Uranium of 19.75% U-235) fuel.
• November 30, 2011 at 15:35: The reactor reached its first criticality with LEU fuel core.
• July 3, 2013: All spent HEU fuel assemblies were sent back to Russian Federation under the framework of the RRRFR Programme supported by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and USA.