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MYRRHA, Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications.

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MYRRHA, a world first in many ways

The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN) is actively working on designing and building this multifunctional research installation in Mol. MYRRHA is the very first prototype in the world of a nuclear reactor, driven by a particle accelerator with a significant thermal output. Discover what MYRRHA is all about and how you can contribute to this future-oriented challenge.

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Safe, efficient and waste-reducing

It is vitally important to ensure that an innovative research installation can be operated safely. MYRRHA's Accelerator Driven System has two major advantages:

Nuclear reactions can be easily and safely controlled
The volume of radioactive waste will be reduced considerably

Radioisotopes for the world

Our world is seriously in need of medical radioisotopes for diagnosing and treating a number of diseases, such as cancer:

MYRRHA will meet increasing demand
MYRRHA will guarantee global supply

MYRRHA is designed to to take over and extend the role of an existing reactor that is playing a major role in international research.

MYRRHA is building on the past
MYRRHA will enable the execution of smart irradiation tests

Come and work at MYRRHA

Would you like to be part of making this innovative and challenging research installation a reality? We need bright people with a scientific, operational and international background who are full of enthusiasm and who believe in the future of what we are doing. Join the MYRRHA team!

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News

His Majesty the King visits the MYRRHA project at SCK•CEN

26/06/2019

His Majesty the King paid a working visit to the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre today. The visit was initiated by last year’s government’s decision to implement the MYRRHA project in Mol. “This new, unique research infrastructure will attract young and dynamic scientists from all over the world”, says Hamid Aït Abderrahim, SCK•CEN Deputy Director-General and MYRRHA project Director.

Mol (Belgium), Wednesday 26 June 2019, 10 am. The sun reflects on the silvery aluminium experiments inside the SCK•CEN Technology Hall that were developed for the innovative MYRRHA research infrastructure. About fifteen young researchers are moving around a bit tensely. They will be hosting the King, who is about to arrive on a working visit. “One for one, they are passionate scientists”, Hamid Aït Abderrahim, SCK•CEN Deputy Director-General and MYRRHA Director says as an introduction. Angélique Gatera (32 years) kicks off and takes the King along a fifteen meter long banner of the MYRRHA accelerator.

“MYRRHA will be the world’s first prototype of an accelerator driven system. The particle accelerator starts and maintains the nuclear reaction inside the reactor. When you switch off the accelerator, the reactor will stop within one millionth of a second. I’m thrilled by the challenge of building the world’s most reliable accelerator”, says Angélique. Engineer Christophe Corazza (27 years) confirms: “MYRRHA enables us to take giant leaps into the future by linking technology with science.”

MYRRHA’s innovative characteristics were the main attraction for Yong-Hoon Shin. “The more I delved into lead bismuth as the cooling liquid during my nuclear studies, the clearer it became to me that I had to end up at MYRRHA. This is the only place in the world where I can put my knowledge into practice”, research engineer Hoon (30 years) points out. “What drives me, is the desire to remove technical barriers on that road. The desire to work alongside colleagues who come from all corners of the planet and to share our experiences”, says François Davin (27 years).

35 years

Angélique Gatera, Christophe Corazza, François Davin and Shin Yong-Hoon are no exceptions in the MYRRHA team with their young age. The average of the 135 strong team is 35 years. Hamid Aït Abderrahim explains: “MYRRHA is an ambitious project. It will result in a technological solution to reduce nuclear waste, while it will also produce new medical radioisotopes. These medical radioisotopes will allow us to combat cancer more effectively and to reduce patient side-effects. Shaping the future is clearly creating a new dynamism in the sector. A dynamisms that resonates with many young scientists.”

MYRRHA addresses several societal challenges, but the materials that are used in the project also offer opportunities in other industries. The reactor’s cooling liquid could contribute significantly to sustainable energy. “With thermal solar energy, we no longer work with the sun’s light, but with its heat. We do this by focussing the light into a container with a heat absorbing liquid. That allows us to store the energy. Lead bismuth conducts heat and is thus an ideal candidate for this application,” Hamid explains.

Eye witness

MYRRHA’s construction made significant progress since the Belgian government’s decision of 7 September 2018. The King was able to witness this progress at first hand during his working visit to the SCK•CEN in Mol today. “MINERVA, the project’s first phase, is under full development. The installation should become operational in 2027. That will see the production start of our innovative medical radioisotopes,” says Marc Schyns, Director of the Advanced Nuclear Systems Institute. MINERVA will eventually be built at the Mol site, but its construction will be done in several steps. Key components were initially tested in Grenoble and taken to Belgium, where they were reassembled at the Cyclotron Resource Centre at Louvain-la-Neuve (UCLouvain). “The MINERVA accelerator will eventually produce protons at 100 MeV, but the installation at Louvain-la-Neuve will be restricted to 5.9 MeV.”

The King was welcomed by Derrick Gosselin (Chairman of the SCK•CEN Board of Directors) and Eric van Walle (SCK•CEN Director-General), in the presence of ministers Kris Peeters and Marie Christine Marghem, Antwerp province governor Cathy Berx and Mol Mayor Wim Caeyers.

Walloon Government delegation visits MYRRHA

08/05/2019

The International jury of the Marshall Plan Competition Poles of the Walloon government visited the MYRRHA project today. During the visit, the jury members discovered the project’s different components and associated support R&D program in order to identify opportunities for industrial partners in Wallonia for contributing to MYRRHA.

According to a socio-economic impact study by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2017, the MYRRHA research project offers significant opportunities for industrial partners in the three regions of Belgium and in Europe. The world’s first Accelerator Driven System consists of a linear particle accelerator that drives a lead-bismuth cooled reactor and a Proton Target Facility for radio-isotope production and physics research. The PwC study envisages € 6,700 million of economic added value and a job creation of 34,000 FTE's from construction (starting in 2021) to exploitation (until 2065). PwC pointed to Wallonia’s expertise in construction, research and management consulting. In fact, the initial phase that will deliver fundamental stability for the entire accelerator is being researched and implemented at Louvain-la-Neuve.

During the visit, the jury members of the Marshall Plan’s Competition Poles led by its chairman Mr Luc Van Steenkiste immersed themselves in MYRRHA’s various technologies to gain a better understanding of the opportunities MYRRHA offers to several industrial sectors in Wallonia. MYRRHA Director Hamid Aït Abderrahim briefed them extensively of the project’s phased implementation. In a first phase, the linear accelerator will be built with a 100 MeV output. In addition extending the accelerator to 600 MeV, designing the lead-bismuth cooled reactor and obtaining a license will be prepared, so that they can be executed in the project’s second and third phases. At the end of the visit, both delegations were optimistic that it had contributed to mutually rewarding future cooperation.

MYRRHA financing is secured

12/02/2019

In response to an article in the Belgian daily De Standaard of 12 February 2019, SCK•CEN would like to repeat that the MYRRHA project’s financing is secured and is not affected by political developments in the country. The decision to finance MYRRHA, a new large research infrastructure, was made by a majority government on 7 September 2018 and remains in place, despite the resignation of that government in December 2018. With a caretaker government in place, MYRRHA continues to be funded this year via the generally recognised system of provisional twelfths that applies to all federal government expenditure. For the MYRRHA project at SCK•CEN, it remains business as usual. The first MYRRHA components are currently being assembled and tested in Mol and Louvain-la-Neuve.

MYRRHA is a large nuclear research facility which is of paramount importance for society in more ways than one. This infrastructure aims at developing an innovative solution to sharply reduce the mass and storage duration of nuclear high-level radioactive waste.

Another huge challenge addressed by MYRRHA is nuclear medicine research and development. MYRRHA will contribute to the development of new radioisotopes that will enable less invasive cancer therapies.

With its unique accelerator driven set-up, MYRRHA is bound to attract a wide range of scientists and engineers. MYRRHA represents a distinctive fundamental and applied research infrastructure that will contribute to the innovative world awaiting us all.

All Newsarticles

Publications

18/08/2018

Effect of deformation twinning on dissolution corrosion of 316 L stainless steels in contact with static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 500 °C.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 510, 18.08.2018, p. 556-567.

01/08/2018

Numerical modeling of oxygen mass transfer in a wire wrapped fuel assembly under flowing lead bismuth eutectic.

Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 506, 01.08.2018, p. 53-62.

29/05/2018

Charge radii and electromagnetic moments of 195-211At.

Physical Review C, Vol. 97, No. 054327, 054327, 29.05.2018, p. 1-19.

All publications

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Science towards sustainability