page_title: Regional Center for Nuclear Studies
section_title: Security and safety
hierarchical_section_title: Regional Center for Nuclear Studies / Security and safety
caption_attribution_description: English: Erosion in the Cité Mama Mobutu in July 2009, due to lack of maintenance Érosion à la Cité Mama Mobutu en juillet 2009 dû au manque d’entretien
context_page_description: The Regional Center for Nuclear Studies in Kinshasa, prior to 1970 known as the Trico Center, houses the TRICO I and TRICO II nuclear research reactors. TRICO I was the first nuclear reactor on the African continent.
context_section_description: International observers have long been concerned about the safety and security of the two nuclear reactors and the enriched uranium they contain.
  In 1998, a wall in the Regional Center for Nuclear Studies collapsed when torrential rains undermined the building's foundation. International Atomic Energy Agency officials have voiced concerns that the ongoing issue with erosion could lead to an accident that might contaminate the city of Kinshasa's water supply. Further concerns about the site were raised when, in 1999, an object that might have been a missile, struck the building and caused light damage.
  The program has also had an ongoing issue with the disappearance of nuclear material that could be used by terrorists or rogue states. Several rods of highly enriched uranium (HEU) have disappeared from the reactors since the late 1970s. In 1998, a sting operation led by the Italian police seized a rod of HEU that weighed 190 grams. It was built by General Atomics in the early 1970s and shipped to Zaire for use in the TRICO II reactor. The rod was in the possession of an Italian mafia group that was trying to sell it for $12.8 million, possibly to a Middle Eastern country.
  In 2007, the research center's director Fortunat Lumu and an aide were arrested and questioned about the disappearance of a large quantity of nuclear material, which local media reported was as much as 100 bars of uranium.
  In 2010, leaked diplomatic cables reported on the troublesome security and safety situation. Including manioc farming adjacent to a building storing nuclear waste.
  In 2012, Vincent Lukanda (CGEA Commissar-General) declared that CREN-K was no longer threatened by erosion, and that the Congolese government was committed to protecting and modernizing the nuclear site, citing investments into a new perimeter fence.
  In 2018, an IAEA expert team concluded that organisational and technical improvements were needed for the safety of the shutdown reactor "particularly considering the country's decision to bring the reactor back into operation".
caption: Erosion in the city Mama Mobutu, Mont Ngafula, near the University
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