MYRRHA, a multipurpose accelerator driven system for R&D

One of the SCK•CEN core competencies is and has at all times been the conception, design and realisation of large nuclear research facilities such as BR1, BR2, BR3, VENUS reactors, LHMA hot-cells, or HADES underground research laboratory (URL) for waste disposal. SCK•CEN has then operated these facilities successfully thanks to the high degree of qualification and competency of its personnel and by inserting these facilities in international research networks, contributing hence to the development of crucial aspects of nuclear energy. One of the main SCK•CEN research facility, namely BR2, is nowadays arriving at an age of 40 years just like the major materials testing reactors (MTR) in the world and in Europe (HFR (EU-Petten), OSIRIS (F-Saclay), R2 (Sw-Studsvik)…). MYRRHA has been conceived as a potential facility for replacing BR2 and to be a fast spectrum facility complementary to the thermal spectrum RJH (Réacteur Jules Horowitz) facility in France. This situation would give Europe a full research capability in terms of nuclear R&D.Furthermore, the disposal of radioactive wastes resulting from industrial nuclear energy production has still to find a fully satisfactory solution, especially in terms of environmental and social acceptability. As a consequence, most countries with significant nuclear power generating capacity are currently investigating various options for the disposal of their nuclear waste. Scientists are looking for ways to drastically reduce (by a factor of 100 or more) the radio-toxicity of the High Level Waste (HLW) to be stored in a deep geological repository, and to reduce the time needed to reach the radioactivity level of the fuel originally used to produce energy. This can be achieved via the development of the Partitioning and Transmutation and burning MAs and to a less extent LLFPs in Accelerator Driven Systems. The MYRRHA project contribution will be in helping to demonstrate the ADS concept at reasonable power level and the demonstration of the technological feasibility of MA and LLFP transmutation in real conditions.