Fast Reactors and Accelerator Driven Systems Knowledge Base

Conference Article: A prototype accelerator driven system in Belgium: the Myrrha project

L.Van Den Durpel, H.it Abderrahim, G.Minsart, J.L.Bellefontaine, S.Bodart, P.D'hondt, B.Ponsard, F.Vermeersch, W.Wacquier

Abstract

The renewed interest in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) world-wide, has given a new increased effort in several related research domains. The communications within the ICANS, ICENES and ADTT meetings have shown that all major research institutes are somehow conducting research in this ‘new’ field. Within this research forum, most of the proposed systems deal with spallation sources in the MW-range, addressing needs for accelerators and sub-critical facilities that are out of current reliability and sometimes even out of current technology range. The necessary research in several sub-domains has to be addressed once and will need prototype systems enabling the validation and test of calculational tools and technological items. At SCK-CEN, the Belgian nuclear research center, the Myrrha project has been started end of 1995. This project intends to design, develop and possibly realize a prototype accelerator driven system as advanced neutron source and with four main objectives: - research of ADS-development as an option for transmutation, - ‘in-core’ irradiation experiments as extension and continuing support in the field of reactor physics and technology and safety-related experiments; - medical and industrial applications (including radioisotope production, known as the ADONIS-project) - extension of current SCK-CEN-research and extensions into new fields based on the availability of performing in-core and neutron-beam experiments. This paper will describe the current status of this project and planning of ongoing research as well the description of two specific applications, i.e. radioisotope production and transmutation studies.

view the full text of this article (9 pages, format: PDF, size= 565kB)

key words: Fast Neutron Spectrum Systems, Nuclear Technology
Reference:
Technical Committee Meeting, Madrid, Spain 17-19 September 1997
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria)
IAEA-TC--903.3, pp:245-253