Abstract
The panorama of research reactors in the world is at a turning point, with many old ones being shutdown, a very few new ones under construction and many newcomer countries interested to get access to one or to build one domestic research reactor or zero-power reactor. In this evolving context, several actions have been set up to answer this international collaboration need: the IAEA has launched the ICERR initiative, the OECD/NEA is proposing the P2M joint project proposal. In France, the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR), under construction at CEA Cadarache, within an International Consortium, will be one of the few tools available for the industry and research in the next decades. The paper presents some update of its construction, its experimental capacities and the European support through FP7 and H2020 tools. This paper provides also some insights of international tools (ICERR, P2M) and about the International Group on Research Reactors (IGORR) and how they complement or interact with the JHR.
Highlights
The panorama of experimental research reactors has recently evolved, with the shutdown of several important Material Testing Reactors (MTR): – the Osiris reactor in CEA, France at the end of 2015; – the Japan Material Test Reactor, by mid-2017; – and the Halden Boiling Water Reactor, in Norway, inA quick look at some major remaining MTRs in operation today indicates that several of them are quite old: ATR (USA, 1967), MIR and SM3 (Russia, 1967 & 1961 respectively), BR2 (Belgium, 1962), HFR (Netherlands, 1961), LVR-15 (Czech Republic, 1995) and the TRIGA in Pitesti (Romania, 1980) are younger
Several actions are running to gather a scientific community around Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) and to prepare the first experimental programmes once JHR in operation: – The Consortium established three Working Groups to prepare the fuel irradiations, the material irradiations and for technology issues linked to experimental devices. – A JHR scientific and technical seminar is organized every year. – In April 2019, a first JHR school was added to the Seminar
By mid-2018, the European Commission has secured 5.15% of the guaranteed access to irradiation capacity. It makes the EC the larger foreign contributor to the JHR, because seven bilateral foreign partners have taken 2% each and India 3%. This support will continue with three new actions: – a complementary funding of Euratom to increase its access rights up to 6% (Indicated on the last H2020 Euratom call as OA6); – an interest of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to develop together an experimental test loop that would fit current and future requirements for material and/or fuel tests in the JHR, to be confirmed within the 2021-2025 Euratom financial allocation; – a Coordinated Support Action (CSA) to build a roadmap for the use of Euratom Access Rights for the benefit of EC Member States to get access to JHR Experimental capacity
Summary
The panorama of experimental research reactors has recently evolved, with the shutdown of several important Material Testing Reactors (MTR): – the Osiris reactor in CEA, France at the end of 2015; – the Japan Material Test Reactor, by mid-2017; – and the Halden Boiling Water Reactor, in Norway, in. Several newcomer countries are contemplating the possibility of buying a small research reactor, like Jordan, which started the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (5 MW) by December 2016, or Saudi Arabia, where a small 30 kW reactor is under construction at KACST, Riyadh. In this evolving context, several initiatives have been launched to increase the international cooperation around the remaining facilities
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