The HFR: a key research reactor for Europe
In the context of the Dutch Presidency of the
European Union, a timely seminar was held on 16th December
2004 at the Institute for Energy (IE) of the Joint Research Centre
(JRC) of the European Commission at Petten, the Netherlands, with
the title: “The HFR: a key research reactor for Europe”.
The HFR is the High Flux Reactor, located at the JRC site at Petten.
The HFR is one of the most powerful, multi-purpose, research reactors
in its field, which, amongst others, currently produces over 50%
of the European production of radioisotopes, an irreplaceable
product in the field of nuclear medicine.
Participants at the HFR Seminar
The seminar was organised for members of the
European Commission’s Joint Working Party on Research and
Atomic Questions and members of the Atomic Questions Group, as
well as a number of representatives from the Dutch Ministry of
Economic Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment, each of
which has responsibilities towards the HFR, with respect to licensing
and regulatory affairs.
A number of speakers, specialists in their area
of expertise, were invited to present important topics on nuclear
research, with a view to emphasising the importance of the HFR
for the European research and radioisotope production needs of
the future.
View of reactor from the poolside
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The acting
Director General and Deputy Director General of the JRC,
Roland Schenkel, welcomed the audience. A brief introduction
to the HFR, its organisation and the close cooperation between
IE and NRG (Nuclear Research and consultancy Group), both
the hosting Petten organisations, was given by Kari Törrönen
(Director IE) and Rob Stol (Director NRG). JRC is the owner
and currently, licence holder of the HFR, with NRG as the
operator, but who will shortly themselves take over the
licence from JRC. The reactor is funded by the so-called,
Supplementary Programme with contributions there to from
the Dutch and French authorities, from Shared Cost Actions,
which are |
partly funded by the Commission’s Framework
Programmes, and from Third Party contracts. Irradiation experiments
in the reactor cover materials and fuel irradiation testing (HTR,
generation IV, fusion, transmutation studies), medical irradiations
(BNCT, radioisotope production) and nuclear techniques (SANS,
neutron diffraction). The HFR has currently a technical life-time
limit to 2020. Hence, its future role in the nuclear community,
as well as its future funding, all need to be addressed accordingly.
Beyond 2020, plans to construct a new reactor are also a topic
under consideration.
The seminar continued with presentations by
six specialists in the following fields:
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Reactor Safety Studies and Life Management (Jean-Pierre Hutin,
EdF, France)
-
Transmutation – A Possibility to Burn High-Level Nuclear
Waste (Joachim Knebel, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany)
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Materials Research for Future Thermonuclear Fusion Reactors
(Eberhard Diegele, EFDA, Germany)
-
Medical radio-isotopes (Henri Bonnet, IRE, Belgium)
-
Advanced Medical Radiotherapy (Wolfgang Sauerwein, Duisburg-Essen
University, Germany)
-
Training and Knowledge Management in the Nuclear Field (Frans
Moons, SCK/CEN, Belgium)
Outside view of the HFR Petten at night
During the afternoon, a tour took place on-site
to the HFR, including the BNCT facility, and to the Molybdenum
Plant (Tyco). Thereafter, participants re-assembled back in the
conference room for a session of Q&A. Firstly, Marc Becquet
(JRC, Brussels) gave a brief presentation of the intended Joint
Undertaking (JU), which will replace the HFR Supplementary Programme.
The JU will be in the form of a member’s club or association
of entities, composed of the principal users of the HFR. In the
first instance, JRC, NRG and also some of the current customers
of the HFR will join. Partners may join and resign anytime, whilst
the method of payment could be via financial contracts or work-in-kind.
The JU is still only a proposal, but is one the highest priorities
to be addressed in the next 12 months.
(Courtesy of the Joint Research Centre)
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