MYRRHA, a Multipurpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-end Applications

SCK•CEN is designing an ADS (Accelerator Driven System) hybrid system called MYRRHA. It is made of a subcritical fast neutron reactor loaded with MOX fuel and driven by an external neutron source. These primary neutrons are produced by means of an intense 600 MeV proton beam bombarding a heavy liquid metal (lead-bismuth) target. The objective of the project is to create an international irradiation research facility in a European Research Area on Experimental Reactors allowing the study of the behavior of structural materials under high energy (>1 MeV) neutron irradiation, the study of transmutation of long-lived radioactive waste produced in present LWR reactors, the demonstration needed for next generation reactors (Generation-IV), and the support to fusion. Apart from that, part of the proton beam from the MYRRHA accelerator can be diverted to an Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) system to produce intense low-energy radioactive ion beams (RIB) available for experiments requiring very long beam times.