Nuclear Research Center Research Articles

Validating Geant4 with Monte Carlo simulations in the context of nuclear disarmament verification

In this paper neutron transport simulation results of experimental configurations used during the 2019 IPNDV measurement campaign at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN in Mol are presented. As these are a good basis for benchmarking simulations, results of the Monte-Carlo simulation codes Geant4, SCALE/KENO-VI, MCNP and openMC are compared with the aim of validating Geant4. With fissile material present as plutonium–uranium mixed oxide, (α,n) emissions are included in the simulations. A Geant4 extension to calculate neutron multiplication factors keff was developed and applied to the IPNDV configurations and a set of OECD/NEA benchmark experiments. Neutron fluxes of the IPNDV configurations through a reference volume are simulated. The Geant4 (α,n) simulation toolkit SaG4n is compared to the SCALE code ORIGEN and small deviations are observed. Geant4 calculations of keff for criticality benchmark experiments deviate in the mean by ＋0.4%, for MCNP and openMC deviations are ≤6%, for KENO-VI ≤8%. Geant4’s total neutron fluxes through a reference volume next to the IPNDV configurations agree within a margin of ±5% with MCNP and openMC and −14 % with KENO-VI. Considerable differences between all codes were observed for thermal neutron scattering but Geant4 results are still within the other codes’ variability. Differences to Geant4 for epithermal energies can be addressed to a not yet included “Doppler Broadening Rejection Correction”. By comparing Geant4 simulations of a complex set-up with various reference codes and demonstrating its good performance as well as some discrepancies, this study contributes to the validation of Geant4 neutron physics in fissile material systems and for nuclear disarmament verification simulations.

Using open experimental data of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in the process of studying the physics of elementary particles

The article discusses the theoretical justification, and the process of developing, implementing, and experimentally verifying the methodology for training future physics teachers using open experimental data from the European Center for Nuclear Research in studying elementary particle physics. The main stages of the study of elementary particle physics are clarified, taking into account the modern achievements of CERN. In the work, the study of elementary particles was carried out based on data from the CMS detector (Compact Muon Solenoid). A description of the methods, techniques, and ways of using the proposed methodological tools for the workshop on the physics of the atomic nucleus and elementary particles is presented. The process of selection and preparation of tasks and instructions based on the open experimental data of the European Center for Nuclear Research, recommendations for working with software, and their approbation in the educational process is considered. An experimental verification, analysis, and generalization of the research results were carried out. Arguments are given regarding the effectiveness and practicality of using the open experimental data of CERN in the process of studying elementary particle physics.

Domestic and foreign experience of forming research competences of participants in the educational process

The article examines the peculiarities of mutual education of pedagogical workers abroad. The forms of work on the formation of scientific and research competences of teachers in the European scientific school of the CERN nuclear research center are described. The directions of cooperation between CERN and the Minor Academy of Sciences through the operation of online schools for teachers, school and extra-curricular education workers have been determined. The directions of offline and online cooperation of representatives of the international scientific school in the United States of America at the Argonne National Laboratory and pedagogical workers of the national laboratory of the Minor Academy of Sciences are presented. For scientific schools, the peculiarities of the formation of scientific and research competences of teachers undergoing internship at the Argonne National Laboratory are indicated. The features of improving the qualifications of pedagogical workers in the countries of the European Union and the formation of their scientific and research competences for the purpose of further training of students in research activities in institutions of general secondary education are revealed. The reasons for the popularity of improving the qualifications of pedagogical workers in the countries of the European Union, which offer teachers to undergo internships on the basis of educational institutions for the purpose of forming their scientific and research competences, further training of students in research activities, are reflected. Innovations in the cooperation of the participants of the educational process in author's schools, scientific and pedagogical schools, which reflect the main world trends, are presented. In order to determine modern methods of formation of scientific and research competences of pedagogical workers, the methods of their professional growth, which are used in educational institutions abroad, were analyzed. Directions for improving the level of teaching of teachers in Austria due to the possibilities of the websites of educational institutions and the websites of the federal states have been identified. The principles of managing adult education, non-formal and informal education in Great Britain, Germany, and France are considered. Prospective directions for the organization of the activities of participants in the educational process have been determined.

Opportunities for high-energy neutron- and deuteron-induced measurements for fusion technology at the Soreq applied research accelerator facility (SARAF)

The Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF) will be based on a 40 MeV, 5 mA CW (continuous wave) proton/deuteron superconducting linear accelerator, currently under construction at Soreq Nuclear Research Center in Yavne, Israel. It is planned to commence operation during 2025. Experiments at SARAF could provide data on high-energy deuteron- and neutron-induced cross-sections, yields and radiation damage, which are invaluable for the design and operation of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility-DEMO-Oriented NEutron Source (IFMIF-DONES), and fusion technology in general. Pulsed beams (∼1 nsec) of variable energy deuterons will irradiate a lithium target and generate pulsed neutron beams with energy up to ∼55 MeV, which will be used to measure energy-dependent neutron-induced differential cross-sections, utilizing time of flight techniques. Impinging continuous wave (CW) 40 MeV deuteron beams on a unique gallium-indium (GaIn) liquid-jet target, will generate a neutron rate of more than 1 × 1015 n/sec, with energies up to ∼45 MeV. We plan to use this high rate to measure integral neutron-induced reaction yields of all channels simultaneously, employing an original novel method that will identify the reaction-produced nuclei via accurate mass measurement. The neutron-energy dependence of the yields could be deduced by combining measurements at various deuteron energies. The measured cross-sections and yields at SARAF may predict the activation characteristics of construction materials of IFMIF-DONES and future fusion reactors. The deuteron beams will also be used directly to measure cross-sections via in-beam and offline methods. The high neutron and deuteron rates will extend SARAF’s reach to rare materials. The deuteron beam power density on the liquid GaIn target will be 100 kW/cm2(similar to IFMIF-DONES) on a 2 cm2spot. The resulting neutron flux on small secondary samples will be in the 1013 n/cm2/s level, only an order of magnitude less than IFMIF-DONES. Therefore, SARAF may serve as a pilot facility for fusion-related radiation damage studies, providing important information towards the design of IFMIF-DONES.

BNCT dosimetry for brain cancer based on the nuclear research reactor NUR and the modified MIRD phantom by introducing the eye lens: Simulation study

The Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive type of the brain cancer, as well as resistant to treatments combining surgery and concomitant sessions of radiotherapy, based on X-rays, and chemotherapy. The Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) has been elected as a radical solution to this type of cancer. This present work focuses on the dosimetric study of the GBM using the therapeutic BNCT beam based on the NUR nuclear research reactor of the Draria Nuclear Research Center (CRND) that has been already optimized in a previous research. In this context, the simulations have been done using the Monte Carlo Code (MCNP5) and the Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) phantom with an assumption of a brain tumor of 1.5 cm radius situated at different depth ranging from 4 to 10 cm and centered with respect to the neutron beam. In addition, the calculation of the absorbed dose by the tumor, the healthy brain tissue, the skin around head and neck (skin), the pharynx and the thyroid was performed for the different locations of the tumor using the ICRU 46 to determine the elemental composition and the flux to Kerma conversion coefficients for each tissue. However, the recent epidemiological studies show that cataract can occur at a dose lower than 200 cGy, as it can be a stochastic effect and not a deterministic one. To this end, a calculation of the absorbed dose by the lens of the eye and more precisely by its most radiosensitive part (germinative zone) was developed by modifying the MIRD phantom to model the entire eye based on the equations of later studies. The obtained results show that the absorbed dose rate calculated for the tumor increases each time its depth rises, which is not the case for the dose rate calculated for the healthy organs where it remains approximately constant. The absorbed dose by the germinative zone varies from (68.37 ± 0.89) cGy for tumor depth of 4 cm to (733.92 ± 15.96) cGy for a tumor situated at 10 cm of depth.

The Ecosystem of Linked Biodiversity Publications: General Picture of Tools and Services Created by Plazi, Pensoft, MNHN, CETAF, Zenodo, and SIBiLS

A goal of natural history institutions is to contribute to the understanding of biodiversity and disseminate this knowledge through scholarly publications and other public activities. In today’s world, it is expected that this knowledge, imprisoned in separated silos of millions of publications scattered through ca. 500 million published pages, is readily available for exploring and reusing by humans and artificial intelligence tools. The goal of the BiCIKL project and its key product, the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH), is to put together novel tools and services to publish and extract data from publications to create findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) corpus of digital data, and establish explicit links between the data in publications and cited data types (taxonomic names, gene sequences, occurrences, images). This corpus of data is made available to the researchers and practitioners through the Biodiversity Literature Repository (BLR), the “Biodiversity PMC” digital library, Synospecies, and the OpenBiodiv knowledge graph through analytic tools, including artificial intelligence, and to a large extend through the re-use by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and ChecklistBank (CLB). This presentation will focus on the entire ecosystem of interlinked services created by Plazi, Pensoft, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (Science Press), the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) e-publishing working group, the Zenodo repository at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Literature Services of the Swiss Insitute of Bioinformatics (SIBiLS) to enforce both novel methods for prospective semantic publishing and text and data mining of legacy literature. In the end, all knowledge, published in various journals by many publishers in different parts of the world, comes together into a standardized and re-usable open and linked FAIR data pool for the benefit of the researchers and society.

Verification & validation of CFD predictions regarding pressurized thermal shock (PTS) situations in ROCOM installation: Comparison with IAEA benchmark

The current paper documents the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code validation activity, carried out at the Nuclear Research Center of Birine relevant of Atomic Energy Commission of Algeria as part of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Project (CRP): Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics Codes for Nuclear Power Plant Design to assess the current capabilities of these codes and to contribute to technological progress in their verification and validation. A set of ROCOM CFD-grade test data of Pressurized Thermal Shock test (PTS) specifications was made available in the framework of this (CRP) by Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, (HZDR) Germany, to perform detailed calculations of the proposed test. The reference point is the injection of relatively cold core cooling water (ECC), which can induce buoyant stratification. The data obtained from the PTS experiment were compared with the results of Ansys-CFX calculations in this paper. Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) model is used to examine the buoyancy-influenced flows in the reactor pressure vessel for condition where natural circulation is a dominant factor. The Shear Stress Transport (SST k-ω) turbulence model is used to take into account the turbulence effects on the mean flow. Calculation results show a good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experiment data.

Loading Rate of Fracture Toughness Tests in Transition Regime

Abstract ASTM E1921-21, Standard Test Method for Determination of Reference Temperature, T0, for Ferritic Steels in the Transition Range, contains a limitation on the stress intensity factor loading rate (K˙) for the quasistatic loading. The specimens should be loaded at a rate such that K˙ during the initial elastic portion is between 0.1 and 2 MPa√m/s. However, based on recent improvements in the test technique, it should be possible to narrow the loading rate range in order to reduce variability and have more comparable results between laboratories. For all users to be able to achieve the reduced range, clear guidelines are needed, which are not yet available. The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) has extensive experience in fracture toughness testing and has constructed a large database on which statistical studies were performed. This paper illustrates, using the SCK CEN database, that Wallin’s theoretical displacement formulas can only be used in the case in which the compliance of the testing setup is taken into account. An improved equation is proposed, guidelines for implementing the equation are drawn up, and these are verified using the database. It is clear that the methodology is sufficiently robust to provide an average loading rate within the suggested range of 0.5 and 2 MPa√m/s. This methodology could thus be integrated into the testing standard ASTM E1921-21.

Changing face-to-face to online radiation protection training: experiences of trainers and trainees.

The SCK CEN Academy for Nuclear Science and Technology functions as the umbrella structure coordinating the education and training activities of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN). One of the main activities of the SCK CEN Academy is to provide customised training to professionals working in the nuclear industry, healthcare, research or governmental institutions. The courses and practical sessions are usually given in a face-to-face (FTF) format. This has drastically changed in the last 2y because of the COVID-19 pandemic when it was necessary to switch course delivery from FTF to an online format. Feedback was collected from trainees and trainers in different training courses in radiation protection provided in FTF and online format. The analysis of this feedback allows training providers to make better-informed decisions on the best-suited training format depending on the content, target audience and the duration of the learning activity.

Fusion-dedicated material irradiation facilities at MYRRHA: Conceptual design and damage equivalence studies

The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre is currently developing MYRRHA - a subcritical accelerator driven system ignited by a 600 MeV superconducting linear proton accelerator, cooled with an eutectic lead bismuth. The implementation of MYRRHA will take place in phases, where phase I, covering 2019–2027, includes the deployment of the 100 MeV proton accelerator and beam-added research facilities. Development of the dedicated facilities to enable irradiation of fusion materials and components is in the portfolio of this R&D block. The baseline concept of the 100 MeV fusion-dedicated facilities has been presented for the first time in 2019 and in this contribution, we extend its description and provide main elements of the conceptual design of the irradiation installations, preliminary configuration of the hot cell facilities (required to load/unload the irradiation modules), information on the irradiation envelope. In addition, we summarize the results of the computational study performed to investigate the equivalence (in terms of damage rate, nuclear transmutation, temperatures and expected irradiation-induced microstructure) of the irradiation conditions at MYRRHA facilities in comparison with other material test facilities such as IFMIF and ESS, and in DEMO as well as in the mixed-spectrum material test reactors. The aspects related to miniaturization of the sample geometries are also discussed to substantiate the feasibility and relevance of this facility for fusion material's R&D programme.

THE ROLE OF SOVIET JEWS IN BUILDING THE ISRAELI NUCLEAR ARSENAL (THE DIMONA REACTOR AS A MODEL) NINEVEH EDUCATION DIRECTORATE

The Israeli nuclear file is considered one of the biggest secrets of nuclear life in the world, if (Israel) refuses, since its establishment,to be included in the periodic inspections conducted by the Atomic Energy Agency on nuclear facilities in the world, just as its government refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed by the Arab countries. Which makes the Israeli nuclear file (out of coverage). (Israel) possesses a basic nuclear reactor، as it was the first step it took regarding the establishment of a nuclear force in late (1948)AD and early (1949)AD. The most important and most dangerous effective step taken by (Israel) on the road to producing nuclear weapons for nuclear energy in(Israel)was its establishment of(the Dimona reactor.). This reactor was built according to French designs drawn up by the French atomic Energy Commission as part of the French-Israeli efforts to coordinate in the field of atomic cooperation. The Dimona reactor is located on the desert road between Beersheba and Sodom، in the Negev Center for Nuclear Research. It consists of ten buildings. It contains a nuclear reactor and a reprocessing plant. Plutonium This place was chosen because of its proximity to the raw materials (uranium) found in the Negev desert. The costs of building the reactor were estimated at about (130) million dollars, and its capacity was (150) megawatts, and it was able to produce (8) kilos of plutonium annually. The reactor operates with enriched uranium. (90%), which is a reactor that produces plutonium، which is the main element for the production of the fissile atomic bomb, since the Jews of Russian origins had a great and most prominent influence in the establishment of the Israeli nuclear program, as they pushed the Israeli nuclear file into existence. And they put (Israel) at the forefront of the nuclear countries

MACHINA, the Movable Accelerator for Cultural Heritage In-situ Non-destructive Analysis: project overview

Over the years, transportable instrumentation for cultural heritage (CH) in situ measurements has noticeably widespread, due to logistic, economical and safety reasons. Ion beam analysis, a powerful set of analytical techniques, of great importance for CH, is instead carried out by using fixed instrumentation. To overcome this limit, the Italian national Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research) and the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), started MACHINA, the “Movable Accelerator for CH In-situ Non-destructive Analysis: the new generation of accelerators for art” to build a transportable accelerator, compact, with strongly reduced weight, absorbed power and cost. MACHINA will be installed at the OPD and dedicated to CH. It will be moved to major conservation centres and museums, when needed. The INFN-CERN proposal, approved in December 2017, became operative in February 2018. 2018 was dedicated to the acquisition of material/instrumentations, to set up both a dummy accelerator (to test the vacuum system) and a vacuum chamber (to test the source). Due to COVID, in 2020 and 2021 the experimental work was slowed down, but we kept developing the control electronics/software and built the second-generation supporting structure. The HF-RFQ power supplies were integrated in October 2021. At the rise of 2022, after conditioning the cavities, we tested the system and in March 2022 we got the first extracted 2-MeV proton beam. In this paper, we present the structure of the MACHINA system, the approach followed and the main solutions adopted, with a special focus on the control system, and finally the first experimental results.

The construction of the HADES underground research laboratory and its role in the development of the Belgian concept of a deep geological repository

Abstract When the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) launched a research, development and demonstration programme on geological disposal in the 1970s, it was not certain if a deep geological repository could be constructed in poorly indurated clay. This was tested by constructing the HADES underground research laboratory (URL) in Boom Clay, 225 m below SCK CEN's site in Mol. The construction history of the URL reflects how the understanding of the Boom Clay increased and how the excavation techniques and design of the gallery lining improved. It demonstrated that shafts, galleries and crossings between galleries can be constructed using industrial techniques. It also allowed characterization of the hydromechanical response of the clay and the clay disturbances induced by the excavation. This increased understanding is also reflected in the evolution of the geological disposal concept considered in Belgium. The current disposal concept foresees the installation of seals in the shafts and galleries. The HADES URL also offered the opportunity to test possible seal designs and develop a better understanding of the behaviour of bentonite, a possible seal material, owing to its swelling capacity, under in situ conditions.

Making Belgian Big Science

This article explores the history of the MYRRHA research reactor currently under construction at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN). The article demonstrates that the construction of large instruments has obtained an essential role in the moral economy of modern nuclear laboratories. First, an analysis on the internal discussion within the research center reveals how MYRRHA’s transformation from a commercially oriented project into a transmutation machine was primarily characterized by the wish to upscale the project. Second, a focus on the European research landscape demonstrates how European collaboration led to further upscaling of the project, having to address technological requirements to fit into the European roadmaps. Third, an emphasis on the interaction between MYRRHA and the Belgian political and public sphere shows how MYRRHA was constructed in a narrative that made the project seem essential to the future of the nuclear research center. Based on archival material and background interviews with key players, this article contributes to our understanding of the development of Big Science in the post–Cold War era in western Europe.

An integrated risk-informed safety classification for unique research reactors

Safety classification of systems, structures, and components (SSC) is an essential activity for nuclear reactor design and operation. The current regulatory trend is to require risk-informed safety classification that considers first, the severity, but also the frequency of SSC failures. While safety classification for nuclear power plants is covered in many regulatory and scientific publications, research reactors received less attention. Research reactors are typically of lower power but, at the same time, are less standardized i.e., have more variability in the design, operational modes, and operating conditions. This makes them more challenging when considering safety classification. This work presents the Integrated Risk-Informed Safety Classification (IRISC) procedure which is a novel extension of the IAEA recommended process with dedicated probabilistic treatment of research reactor designs. The article provides the details of probabilistic analysis performed within safety classification process to a degree that is often missing in most literature on the topic. The article presents insight from the implementation of the procedure in the safety classification for the MARIA Research Reactor operated by the National Center for Nuclear Research in Poland.

What is good drinking water? 41 Years of risk perception on water quality in the vicinity of the Nuclear Research Centre Karlsruhe, 1956–1997

AbstractThis article traces the historical evolution of risk perception around the Nuclear Research Centre Karlsruhe, Germany, from 1956 to 1997. It does so by targeting the evolution of water‐related risks. Federal hopes in the postwar era that the Nuclear Research Centre would bring progress and prosperity clashed with local values and local perception of nuclear engineering as dangerous to health and the environment. Various conflicts arose and opponents made use of their past lived‐knowledge to foster their arguments against future decision‐making, mobilizing stories from the past to shape the future. The conflict culminated in the 1990s, when the municipality decided to lease the Centre's waterworks for future drinking water supply. The main argument of the article is that even though the public discourse shifted over the years from water pollution toward greater risks such as nuclear meltdowns, the local risk perception stayed with the water‐related risks. The article shows how the locals perceived and narrated their risk perception against the decision‐making of authorities as well as against the reasoning of scientists and experts.

Study of Reactor Core Loading Monitoring at the GUINEVERE Facility

The potential use of a pulsed neutron source (PNS) to measure reactivity during nuclear fuel loading as a means to prevent core loading errors has been studied at the GUINEVERE facility. This facility couples the deuteron accelerator GENEPI-3C to the fast neutron subcritical reactor VENUS-F at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK·CEN. The 14-MeV neutrons are produced in the reactor core center via fusion reactions. PNS experiments were performed in five reactor configurations corresponding to the different loading steps of VENUS-F. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235U fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector and analyzed using the area-ratio method. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects, a strong correlation between the reactivity values given by the area-ratio method and some reference reactivity values remains throughout the reactor unloading. Monte Carlo simulations were first validated by comparison with the data and then used to investigate the sensitivity of the method to a core loading error. First results show that some loading errors could be experimentally detected using a PNS.

The Second EWGRD Round Robin: Inter-Comparison of93mNb Measurements

Following on from an initial Round Robin inter-comparison of gamma spectrometry measurements reported in 2014, this paper presents the results of the second part of a further Round Robin inter-comparison commissioned in 2018 by the European Working Group on Reactor Dosimetry. The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate the level of consistency between different organisations’ measurements of the93Nb(n,n’)93mNb reaction, which plays a key role in underwriting reactor dosimetry assessments. To achieve this, measurements of93mNb activity were performed by twelve European organisations on six sets of near identical niobium samples, each having its own geometry and tantalum concentration. The samples were provided by CEA, France and irradiated in the MARIA reactor, operated by National Centre for Nuclear Research, Poland. Participants provided their results to an independent referee who collated and compared the data. The inter-comparison has demonstrated agreement to within standard deviations ranging from ±2.2% to ±7.9%, with a tendency for some organisations to measure elevated values. The results of the inter-comparison are presented in an anonymised form together with discussion and conclusions which may be drawn from the exercise.

The Second EWGRD Round Robin: Inter Comparison of Gamma Spectrometry Measurements on Activation Dosimeters

Following an initial Round Robin inter-comparison of gamma spectrometry measurements reported in 2014, this paper presents results from the first part of a second Round Robin inter-comparison commissioned by the European Working Group on Reactor Dosimetry in 2018. Measurements were performed by thirteen European organisations on a set of irradiated neutron activation detectors representative of those commonly used by the Reactor Dosimetry community to measure neutron fluence using gamma spectrometry methods. The radionuclides measured were110mAg,58Co,60Co,54Mn, and46Sc. The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate the level of consistency between participating organisations in blind tests of measurements. The samples used were disks of iron, nickel, titanium, and two standard alloys of aluminium, one of 1% cobalt and the other 1% silver. They were irradiated in the MARIA reactor operated by National Centre for Nuclear Research, Poland. Participants provided their results to an independent referee who collated and compared the data. The results are presented in an anonymised form together with discussion and conclusions which may be drawn from the exercise. Good agreement was obtained with standard deviations for individual measurements between 2.0% (54Mn) and 5.6% (60Co). Overall, the results obtained from the latter Round Robin show less consistency than those from the first Round Robin, which is attributed to the participation of a wider pool of organisations.

Обзор зарубежного опыта и результаты испытаний материалов на основе цемента для обеспечения долговременной безопасности хранилищ радиоактивных отходов

In-depth analysis of proposed materials should always precede the construction of purpose designed facilities. These studies primarily demonstrating their feasibility, performance, service life, when applied in aggressive environments, are basically seeking to validate the timeframes of their safe operation. This article analyses the studies that have been implemented at the Canadian Nuclear Research Center (Chalk River Laboratories), at a radioactive waste storage facility at the Dukovany NPP site in the Czech Republic, at the El Cabril radioactive waste storage facility (E1 Carbil facility) in Spain, as well as the results obtained within the framework of the international CRP project.