Nuclear research centre opens workplace for decommissioning reactors
Nuclear research centre SCK CEN in Mol, Antwerp province, has replaced its almost completely dismantled Belgian Reactor 3 building with the new Material Treatment or MaT building. MaT is an innovative workplace for the sustainable dismantling of nuclear reactors and to find solutions to treat radioactive waste.
The Belgian Reactor 3 or BR3 was the first pressurised water reactor in Europe and served as a prototype for the Belgian reactors in Doel and Tihange. It was taken into service in 1962 and permanently shut down in 1987.
The European Commission selected BR3 as a pilot project to show the technical and economic feasibility of the dismantling of a reactor under real conditions. About 100 nuclear reactors will be decommissioned across Europe in the near future.
"We are evaluating how these methods contribute to minimising the amount of radioactive waste and improving the reuse of materials"
Nuclear waste can be temporarily stored at the MaT building, before further treatment and transport to BelgoProcess, the company responsible for nuclear storage in Belgium.
There is also room for a test platform where scientists can measure whether the material meets the requirements of the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials. Better measurement accuracy should indicate where and how the material can be stored.
Finally, the new workplace will allow researchers to test new techniques such as decontamination, cutting and sandblasting.
Responsible legacy
“With comparative studies, we are evaluating how these methods contribute to minimising the amount of radioactive waste and improving the reuse of materials,” a spokesperson for SCK CEN said.
There were many children present during the opening of the new workplace. “It is for young people that we erected this building,” said Didier Leonard of SCK CEN. “Our mission is not to burden future generations with the challenges of nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management. We must take action now to leave a responsible legacy.”
#FlandersNewsService | The SCK CEN nuclear research centre © BELGA PHOTO ROBBE VANDEGEHUCHTE
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