SCK•CEN
Encyclopedia
SCK•CEN is the Belgian nuclear
research centre located in Mol, Belgium. SCK•CEN is active in various areas of research and services in the nuclear sector.
Since 1991, the organization's statutory mission gives priority to research on problems of societal concern such as safety of nuclear installations, radiation protection, safe treatment and disposal of radioactive waste, fight against uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials, and education and training.
To these domains SCK•CEN contributes with research and development
, training, communication and services. This is done with a view to sustainable development, and hence taking into account environmental, economical and social factors.
In 1963 SCK•CEN already employed 1300 people, a number that would remain about the same over the next decades. In 1970 SCK•CEN widened its field of activities outside the nuclear sector, but the emphasis remained on nuclear research. In 1990 SCK•CEN was split and a new institute, VITO
(Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek; Flemish institute for technological research), took over the non-nuclear activities. SCK•CEN currently has about 600 employees.
Nuclear Materials Science
Advanced Nuclear Systems
Environment, Health and Safety
Education and Training
BR2 (Belgian Reactor 2)
BR3 (Belgian Reactor 3)
VENUS (Vulcain
Experimental Nuclear Study)
MYRRHA
HADES
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
research centre located in Mol, Belgium. SCK•CEN is active in various areas of research and services in the nuclear sector.
Organisation profile
SCK•CEN is a foundation of public utility with a legal status according to private law, under the guidance of the Belgian Federal Ministry in charge of energy. SCK•CEN has roughly 600 to 650 employees an annual budget of €95 million. The organization receives 45% of its funding directly from government grants, 12% indirectly via activities for the dismantling of declassified installations and 43% from contract work and services.Since 1991, the organization's statutory mission gives priority to research on problems of societal concern such as safety of nuclear installations, radiation protection, safe treatment and disposal of radioactive waste, fight against uncontrolled proliferation of fissile materials, and education and training.
Mission
SCK•CEN focusses on different topics in nuclear physics:- Nuclear safetyNuclear safetyNuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power,...
and radiation protectionIonising radiation protectionRadiation protection, sometimes known as radiological protection, is the science of protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation, which includes both particle radiation and high energy electromagnetic radiation.... - Medical and industrial applications of radiationIonizing radiationIonizing radiation is radiation composed of particles that individually have sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule. This ionization produces free radicals, which are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons...
- The back end of the nuclear fuel cycle (nuclear reprocessingNuclear reprocessingNuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. Reprocessing serves multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing...
and management of radioactive wasteRadioactive wasteRadioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
) - Nuclear decommissioningNuclear decommissioningNuclear decommissioning is the dismantling of a nuclear power plant and decontamination of the site to a state no longer requiring protection from radiation for the general public...
and decontamination of nuclear sites - The fight against nuclear proliferationNuclear proliferationNuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
To these domains SCK•CEN contributes with research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
, training, communication and services. This is done with a view to sustainable development, and hence taking into account environmental, economical and social factors.
History
SCK•CEN was founded in 1952 and originally named Studiecentrum voor de Toepassingen van de Kernenergie (Research Centre for the Applications of Nuclear Energy), abbreviated to STK. Land was bought in the municipality of Mol and over the next years many technical, administrative, medical and residential buildings were constructed on the site. From 1956 to 1964 four nuclear research reactors became operational: the BR1, BR2, BR3 and VENUS.In 1963 SCK•CEN already employed 1300 people, a number that would remain about the same over the next decades. In 1970 SCK•CEN widened its field of activities outside the nuclear sector, but the emphasis remained on nuclear research. In 1990 SCK•CEN was split and a new institute, VITO
Vito
Vito is an Italian name of disputed origin, usually thought to originate from Latin "vita", meaning "life",, and also corresponding to the English and French Guy , or Italian and Spanish Guido...
(Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek; Flemish institute for technological research), took over the non-nuclear activities. SCK•CEN currently has about 600 employees.
Research Activities
SCK•CEN's fields of activity go from the deep underground to outer space. The Centres research activities are concentrated into the following main tracks:Nuclear Materials Science
- Research is performed to improve the knowledge, understanding and numerical simulation of the behaviour of materials under irradiation, and from there on predict their performance. The aim is to develop, assess and validate new materials such as nuclear fuel, construction materials and radioisotopes to be used in nuclear applications. These activities secure SCK•CEN’s expertise and deliver high-quality services to nuclear industry.
Advanced Nuclear Systems
- Extensive contributions are made to extend the present Belgian expertise in the field of developments related to GEN IV reactor systems and ITERITERITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
. In co-operation with the industry and international research teams, R&D efforts are made to develop and test innovative reactor technologies and instrumentation. This will contribute to the construction of an experimental fast spectrum installation (MYRRHA), allowing a.o. transmutation processes to be performed.
Environment, Health and Safety
- Next to specialised R&D in the field of a.o. radiobiology and -ecology, environmental chemistry, decommissioning, radioactive waste management and disposal, SCK•CEN also delivers high-quality measurement services such as radiation dosimetry, calibration and spectrometry. Policy support, decision making and research on the integration of societal aspects into nuclear research contribute to meet complex problems related to radiation protection and energy policy.
Education and Training
- Throughout its more than 50 years of research experience in the field of peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology, SCK•CEN has also earned a reputation as an outstanding centre for education and training (E&T). The E&T activities at SCK•CEN cover a. o. reactor physics, reactor operation, reactor engineering, radiation protection, decommissioning and waste management. Next to courses, SCK•CEN also offers students the possibility to perform their research work at our laboratories and research reactors. Final-year students and PhD candidates can enter a programme outlined together with an SCK•CEN mentor and in close collaboration with a university promotor. Post-docs are mainly recruited in specialised research domains that reflect the priority programmes and R&D topics of our institute.
Important installations
BR1 (Belgian Reactor 1)- The BR1 nuclear reactor became operational in 1956. It used graphiteGraphiteThe mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
as a moderatorNeutron moderatorIn nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium-235....
, natural uraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
as a nuclear fuelNuclear fuelNuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
, and air as the coolantCoolantA coolant is a fluid which flows through a device to prevent its overheating, transferring the heat produced by the device to other devices that use or dissipate it. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, and chemically inert, neither causing nor...
. The BR1 was the first operational nuclear reactor in Belgium and was used for production of radioisotopesSynthetic radioisotopeA synthetic radioisotope is a radionuclide that is not found in nature: no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it, or it is so unstable that it decays away in a very short period of time. Examples include technetium-95 and promethium-146. Many of these are found in, and harvested...
and research. The reactor is still operational today and it still uses the original fuel.
BR2 (Belgian Reactor 2)
- The BR2 nuclear reactor became operational in 1961. It works on highly enriched uranium and is moderated and cooled by water. The BR2 is still one of the most powerful research reactors in the world. The reactor is used for the testing of fuels and materials for different reactor types, and for the production of radioisotopesSynthetic radioisotopeA synthetic radioisotope is a radionuclide that is not found in nature: no natural process or mechanism exists which produces it, or it is so unstable that it decays away in a very short period of time. Examples include technetium-95 and promethium-146. Many of these are found in, and harvested...
.
BR3 (Belgian Reactor 3)
- The BR3 nuclear reactor was a pressurized water reactorPressurized water reactorPressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
(PWR) that produced its first chain reaction in 1962. It was the first PWR outside the United States and it was used as a prototype for the construction and operation of later commercial PWRPWRPWR may stand for:*Parliament of the World's Religions*Paul Weel Racing, an Australian V8 Supercar motor racing team*Politechnika Wroclawska, Wroclaw University of Technology*Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, an American company producing rocket engines...
power plants. The operation of the reactor was stopped in 1987. As the first PWR reactor in Europe to be decommissioned, the decommissioning of the reactor was an important pilot project. The BR3 is expected to be fully decommissioned in 2011.
VENUS (Vulcain
Vulcain
Vulcain is a family of European cryogenic first stage rocket engines for the Ariane 5.-History:The development of Vulcain, assured by a European collaboration, began in 1988 with the Ariane 5 rocket program. It first flew in 1996 powering the ill-fated flight 501 without being the cause of the...
Experimental Nuclear Study)
- VENUSVENUSVENUS - http://venus.uvic.ca - is a cabled sea floor observatory operated out of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The VENUS cabled ocean observatory is designed to provide new ways of studying the ocean...
is a zero powerZero power criticalZero power critical is a condition of nuclear fission reactors, that is useful for characterizing the reactor core. A reactor is in the zero power critical state if it is sustaining a stable fission chain reaction with no significant growth or decay in the reaction rate, and at a low enough level...
reactor, that became operational in 1964. The reactor can simulate the behavior of neutronNeutronThe neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
s in Pressurized water reactorPressurized water reactorPressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s and Boiling water reactorBoiling water reactorThe boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...
s.
MYRRHA
- The MYRRHAMyrrhaMyrrha , also known as Smyrna , is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. She was transformed into a myrrh tree after having had intercourse with her father and gave birth to Adonis as a tree...
project aims to construct a subcritical Accelerator-Driven SystemSubcritical reactorA subcritical reactor is a nuclear fission reactor that produces fission without achieving criticality. Instead of a sustaining chain reaction, a subcritical reactor uses additional neutrons from an outside source...
. The project started in 1997 and targets to put MYRRHA in service in 2023.
HADES
- The Belgian Underground Research Laboratory, located at a depth of -223 m in Boom Clay. It allows the in situ characterization of this clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
layer presently studied as a reference host formation for the geological disposal of nuclear waste. HADES acronym stands for "High Activity Disposal Experimental Site". HADES facility is operated by the EURIDICE European Interest Group (EIG). The main tasks presently performed in the HADES facility are large scale demonstration tests. The on-surface Ophelie mock-up lasted 5 years (1997-2002) and was intended to study the thermo-hydraulic-mechanical behaviour of a bentoniteBentoniteBentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, essentially impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. There are different types of bentonite, each named after the respective dominant element, such as potassium , sodium , calcium , and aluminum . Experts debate a number of nomenclatorial...
buffer emplaced around a central heating tube simulating a high level wasteHigh level wasteHigh level waste is a type of nuclear waste created by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. It exists in two main forms:* First and second cycle raffinate and other waste streams created by nuclear reprocessing....
(HLW) canister. Amongst other results, this experiment allowed to detect an important microbial activity in the bentonite buffer and in the water of the hydration system of the experiment. Concentration as high as 0.5 mM in dissolved sulfideSulfideA sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
and thiosulfateThiosulfateThiosulfate is an oxyanion of sulfur. The prefix thio indicates that thiosulfate ion is a sulfate ion with one oxygen replaced by a sulfur. Thiosulfate occurs naturally and is produced by certain biochemical processes...
were measured in the water and microbially induced corrosionMicrobial corrosionMicrobial corrosion, also called bacterial corrosion, bio-corrosion, microbiologically-influenced corrosion, or microbially-induced corrosion , is corrosion caused or promoted by microorganisms, usually chemoautotrophs...
(MIC) was observed on stainless steel after the dismantling of the experiment. The next large scale in situ experiment is the Praclay experiment aimed at studying the thermo-hydraulic-mechanical behaviour of the clay formation at depth at the scale of a disposal gallery for a period of 10 years. The Praclay experiment is expected to start in 2012 after sufficient hydration of the hydraulic seal.
See also
- European Atomic Energy CommunityEuropean Atomic Energy CommunityThe European Atomic Energy Community is an international organisation which is legally distinct from the European Union , but has the same membership, and is governed by the EU's institutions....
(EURATOM) - Flemish institute for technological researchFlemish institute for technological researchThe Flemish institute for technological research or VITO, is a research centre, located in Mol, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. The institute performs contract research and develops products and processes in the fields of energy, environment and materials, for both the public and the private sector...
(VITO) - Edgar SengierEdgar SengierEdgar Sengier was the director of the Belgian Union Minière du Haut Katanga during World War II. Sengier is credited with giving the American government access to much of the uranium necessary for the Manhattan Project...