INVAP


INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers projects for nuclear, aerospace, chemical, medical, petroleum and governmental sectors.
The company is an unlisted private company, the sole owner being the Province of Río Negro. Its headquarters is in San Carlos de Bariloche. As of 2015, the company directly employs 1330 people, from which 59% are highly qualified professionals.

Background

INVAP was created on September 1, 1976, as a spin-off of the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission, research laboratories division. The name INVAP is a portmanteau of the words investigación aplicada.

Satellites

INVAP was the first company in Latin America certified by NASA to supply space technologies. It constructs satellites, payloads, and ground stations, including the SAC satellite family, developed for the Argentine space agency CONAE. INVAP was the first company in Latin America to provide design, development, mission control and operational support.
The SAC-D was put into orbit on June 9, 2011, carrying several scientific payloads, including NASA's $100 million Aquarius project, which will measure the oceans' salinity. ARSAT-1 - the first communications satellite entirely built in Argentina - was launched in 2014, while a second satellite in the series, ARSAT-2 was launched in September 2015.

Nuclear projects

In the field of nuclear projects, the company specializes in the design and construction of nuclear research reactors, radioisotope production plants, nuclear fuel manufacturing plants, uranium enrichment facilities, neutron beam transport systems, radiation protection instrumentation, reactor protection systems, and modernization and refurbishment of research reactors. INVAP also conducts consultancy and research activities for nuclear power plant suppliers in areas such as nuclear reactor fuels, isotope separation by lasers and reactor core reshuffling studies for nuclear power plants.
INVAP has constructed and installed the following nuclear reactors:
CountryLocationNameNotes
AlgeriaAlgiersNURSold to Haut Commisariat pour la Recherche of the Algerian government.
ArgentinaBarilocheRA-6For CNEA.
ArgentinaPilcaniyeuRA-8For CNEA.
ArgentinaLima, ZárateCAREMFor CNEA.
AustraliaSydneyOPALSold to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
EgyptCairoETRR-2Sold to the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority.
PeruLimaRP-0Provision of nuclear instrumentation to the Instituto Peruano de Energía Nuclear.
PeruHuarangalRP-10Provision of nuclear instrumentation to the Instituto Peruano de Energía Nuclear.
IranTehranNURFor AEOI.
NetherlandsPettenPALLASFor Pallas foundation.

In 2009, INVAP and the Spanish group Isolux were pre-selected in an international tender, known as the PALLAS project. This entailed the procurement of an 80 MW nuclear reactor for the Dutch city of Petten , but in February 2010, the Dutch radiopharmaceutical producer Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group extended the preparatory phase up to end of the year for financing.
In 2010, INVAP and CITEDEF completed the development and readied for testing a method that used a laser to remove the radioactive components from heavy water which is used to cool nuclear reactors.
On the 24th of January, 2018, INVAP won the international tender for a nuclear research reactor and radioisotope production facility for medical uses in The Netherlands.

Other projects

;Civilian
;Military