In 1985 INVAP signed a contract for the construction of a 1 MW thermal power Multipurpose Reactor in Algiers. This reactor, which was inaugurated in April 1989, took only 18 months to assemble was given the name NUR ("luminosity" in Arabic). The reactor in Algiers is similar in general design to RA-6, but features significant upgrading of the human-machine interface.

This reactor is used for laboratory scale production of radioisotopes, for basic and applied research in neutron physics, and for training reactor-operating personnel. It features a hot-cell and circuit to handle irradiated samples by pneumatic transport, several neutron beam extraction channels, and a supplementary control console - 'slave' to the main console - by means of which the reactor can be operated by personnel in training.

One important point of the arrangement with the contracting party, the Haut Commissariat à la Recherché of Algeria (today replaced by the Centre de Dévéloppement des Techniques Nucléaires of the Ministry for Scientific Research) was the participation, right from the beginning of the project, of over 50 Algerian professionals and technicians.

Equally important was the participation of a number of Algerian firms in the construction effort, in the civil works and in other aspects as well.

This participation of Algerian staff and companies in the project ensured the genuine transfer of technology. A simple "turnkey" operation, even one that contemplated on-the-job training of reactor-operating staff, would never have achieved this goal.