IPEN – Nuclear and Energy Research Institute is a State of São Paulo autarchy, associated to the University of São Paulo – USP for educational purposes and supported and operated technically and administratively by the National Nuclear Energy Commission – CNEN, a federal agency of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications.

The Laser Technology Program of IPEN is located at the Centre for Lasers and Applications (CLA) and is committed to the development of new lasers based on the research of new optical materials and new resonator technologies. Laser application and research occur within several areas such as Nuclear, Medicine, Dentistry, Industry, Environment and Advanced Research. Additional goals of the Program are human resource development and innovation, in association with Brazilian Universities and commercial partners.

The dynamism to be always developing new technologies, associated with the advancements of other fields, is the main characteristic of the nuclear technology application. The environmental preservation, radio-sterilization, grafting, curing, nanotechnology and polymer production are strongly associated with radiation processing and have being consolidated with the development of new irradiators. The progress of the instrumentation and information technology has stimulated the development of innovative gamma industrial tomography system for the optimization of multiphase industrial process. Basic research and nuclear technology application in the fields of food science, biomaterial, and nanotechnology have been improved continuously. Others fields, such as dosimetry, nuclear instrumentation and industrial electron beam, X-ray and gamma ray irradiators have been accomplished, showing their importance in the innovation of nuclear technology applications. As long as the processes, considered innovative in the present days, prove to be environmentally safe and economically more interesting, new nuclear applications tend to be standard in many areas. To follow this trend and to keep update, the Radiation Technology Center (CTR) Brazil has been working to spread the nuclear application techniques with new developments in standard applications and brand new nuclear technologies, with high impact on the future of the agriculture, medicine, industry and the environmental preservation. The CTR mission is "to apply the radiation and radioisotope technologies in Industry, Health, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection, expanding the scientific knowledge, improving human power resources, transferring technology, generating products and offering services for the Brazilian society”.

The guidelines of the Biotechnology Program are research and development aiming at developing and manufacturing products of pharmaceutical interest. This Program has two main research areas, namely Pituitary Hormones and Biopharmaceuticals

Hydrogen is seen by many as a key energetic vector for the 21st century. Its utilization in fuel cells enables a clean and efficient production of electricity. The possibility to obtain hydrogen from various sources, along with several types of potential applications of fuel cells, have called the attention and investment of developed countries. European Union, United States, Canada and Japan have important programs that establish tied goals for the utilization of fuel cells in transport and distributed energy generation. Aware of the importance of this technology for the energetic future of Brazil, IPEN started 16 years ago the development of fuel cells for stationary and distributed energy applications. Preliminary studies were carried out at the Materials Research Center due to IPEN expertise on nuclear materials development. Based on both the good initial results and the proposition of the Brazilian Fuel Cell Program (ProH2) by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), IPEN decided to organize an institutional program on the subject, conducted at the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Center – CCCH.

The use of radioisotopes in medicine is certainly one of the most important social applications of Nuclear Energy. IPEN, and more particularly the Radiopharmacy Program, has a special place in the history of Nuclear Medicine in Brazil. The production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for use in Nuclear Medicine started in the late 50’s at IPEN. There has been a significant increase in the demand for these products over the years and nowadays more than 30 products are listed at IPEN catalogue. The Radiopharmacy Program is organized in six areas: Production; Quality Assurance; Quality Control; Research, Development and Innovation; Infrastructure and Maintenance Support; and Cyclotron Accelerator. The Production area carries out the routine production of 99Mo-99mTc generator, PET, SPECT, and betta emitters ready to use radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic and therapy and lyophilized kits 99m for labeling with Tc. Quality Assurance is responsible for the quality system management. The Quality Control executes all the necessary tests to release products for human use. Research, Development and Innovation develops new radiopharmaceuticals and improves production processes and applications. The Cyclotron Accelerator is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the cyclotrons and carries out the irradiation for cyclotron produced radioisotopes.

The Program on Nuclear Science and Technology comprehends Nuclear and Condensed Matter Physics, Neutron Activation Analysis, Radiation Metrology, Radioprotection and Radioactive Waste Management. These activities are developed at the Research Reactor Center and the Radiation Metrology Center. The Radioprotection activities are developed at all radioactive and nuclear facilities of IPEN-CNEN/SP.

The Environmental Science And Technology Program was structured as a consequence of the continuous growth of environmental activities on areas related to nuclear programs of IPEN/CNEN-SP. Moreover, it was an answer towards the society concern with the climate changes and biodiversity preservation; aspects like pollution & sustainable, Waste Management and Environmental Risk, etc. Conducting the environmental management in a strategic way, thinking about the sustainable development of the institution. The program comprehend five main areas: Environmental analysis; Chemical Technology; Polymer technology nucleus; Chemical characterization of materials using spectrometric techniques and Analytical Chemistry for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. If we look at the evolution of our research lines, it is clear that IPEN/CNEN-SP has built up solid grounds on environmental technology.

The Nuclear Engineering Center has shown, along several years, expertise in the field of nuclear, energy systems, and correlated areas. Due to the experience obtained during decades in research and technological development at (the) Brazilian Nuclear Program, personnel has (have) been trained and started to actively and participate (participating) in (the) design of the main system that will compose the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) which will make Brazil self-sufficient in the production of radiopharmaceuticals. The institution has participated in the monitoring and technical support concerning the safety, licensing and modernization of the research reactors IPEN/MB-01 and IEA-R1. Along last two decades, numerous specialized services of engineering for the Brazilian nuclear power plants Angra 1 and Angra 2 have been carried out. The contribution in service, research, training, and teaching in addition to the development of many related technologies applied to nuclear engineering and correlated areas enable the institute to fulfill its mission that is to contribute in improving the quality of life of the Brazilian people.

The focus of the Materials and Nanotechnology Program is technology development related to processing, analysis, testing and characterization of materials in general. These are achieved through execution of R&D projects in engineering and materials science, cooperative projects with private and public sector companies, universities and other research institutes. Besides technology development, this Program also fosters training and human resource development in association with the University of São Paulo and many industrial sectors. This Program is divided into sub-programs in broad areas such as ceramics, composite and metallic materials as well as characterization of physical and chemical properties of materials. The subprograms are further divided into general topics and within each topic, R&D projects. A brief description of progress in each topic during the last three years follows.

The Program on Nuclear Safety comprehends Radioprotection and Radioactive Waste Management. The Radioprotection activities are developed at all radioactive and nuclear facilities of IPEN-CNEN/SP and by the Radioactive Waste Management Laboratory. Both activities belong to the Nuclear Safety Directory.

IPEN is responsible for the graduate program in the nuclear area at University of São Paulo: the Nuclear Technology Program IPEN/USP. Since its creation, in 1976, the Program was evaluated with grade A by the Federal Government Evaluation (CAPES), the highest in this classification. In 2003, CAPES changed the evaluation criteria; since then, it has been considered a Program of Excellence, with grade 6. Levels 6 and 7 are granted only to those programs having internationally recognized expertise. Level 6 was maintained in the last evaluation considering the period 2010-2012. Along its 40 years, the Nuclear Technology Program awarded 2,582 titles: 1,721 masters and 861 doctoral degrees.

The Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB) Project is an action of the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and has its execution under the responsibility of the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). Within the CNEN, the project is coordinated by the Research and Development Directorate (DPD) and developed through research units of this board being the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research - IPEN the main developer.

IPEN Scientific and Technical production, published in the period of 2014-2016.