Mechanical Workshop

The IAEA Mechanical Workshop is located on the Laboratory site in Seibersdorf and is part of the General Services & Safety Section.

The Mechanical Workshop employs 4.5 precision mechanics who design, manufacture, modify, repair and test sophisticated electromechanical equipment in a 280 m² facility. They deal with all mechanical aspects related to technical and scientific instrumentation in the Laboratories (30%) and all relevant projects and requests for services for the Department of Safeguards (70%).

The Unit participates in world-wide safeguard field missions for equipment design, installation and training of end-users.

Recent significant achievements include:

"Candu Bundle Verifier": this computer driven collimator hoist allows the immersion of a collimator between the fuel rods of a nuclear plant without disturbing the latter’s operation. Such devices have been installed in Argentina, Canada, India, Korea and Pakistan.

"Spent Fuel Attribute Tester": this device consists of a lead/tungsten-shielded detector fixed at the top end of an air-filled pipe; the whole set is positioned vertically above the spent fuel assembly to be verified. This configuration ensures proper channelling of the gamma radiation to the gamma detector and has a further advantage that the operator does not have to move the spent fuel assembly. More than 25 such testers have been installed world-wide