Chapter 7
Contribution of the European Commission
to a European Strategy for HLW
Management Through Partitioning &
Transmutation
Presentation of MYRRHA and Its Role in the European
P&T Strategy
Hamid Aı ¨t Abderrahim
Abstract MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech
Applications) is an experimental accelerator-driven system (ADS) currently being
developed at SCK•CEN for replacement of material testing reactor BR2. The
MYRRHA facility is conceived as a flexible fast-spectrum irradiation facility that
is able to run in both subcritical and critical modes. The applications catalogue of
MYRRHA includes fuel developments for innovative reactor systems, material
developments for GEN IV systems and fusion reactors, doped silicon production,
radioisotope production, and fundamental science applications, thanks to the highpower proton accelerator. Next to these applications, MYRRHA will demonstrate
the ADS full concept by coupling a high-power proton accelerator, a multimegawatts spallation target, and a subcritical reactor at reasonable power level to
allow operational feedback, scalable to an industrial demonstrator, and to allow the
study of efficient transmutation of high-level nuclear waste. Because MYRRHA is
based on the heavy liquid metal technology, namely lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE),
it will be able to significantly contribute to the development of Lead Fast Reactor
(LFR) technology and will have the role of European Technology Pilot Plant in the
roadmap for LFR. The current design of the MYRRHA ADS and its ability to
contribute to the European Commission strategy for high-level waste management
through Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) are discussed in this chapter.
Keywords ADS • HLW Management • MYRRHA • P&T
H.A. Abderrahim (*)
SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
e-mail: haitabde@sckcen.be; myrrha@sckcen.be
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_7
59
Contribution of the European Commission
to a European Strategy for HLW
Management Through Partitioning &
Transmutation
Presentation of MYRRHA and Its Role in the European
P&T Strategy
Hamid Aı ¨t Abderrahim
Abstract MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech
Applications) is an experimental accelerator-driven system (ADS) currently being
developed at SCK•CEN for replacement of material testing reactor BR2. The
MYRRHA facility is conceived as a flexible fast-spectrum irradiation facility that
is able to run in both subcritical and critical modes. The applications catalogue of
MYRRHA includes fuel developments for innovative reactor systems, material
developments for GEN IV systems and fusion reactors, doped silicon production,
radioisotope production, and fundamental science applications, thanks to the highpower proton accelerator. Next to these applications, MYRRHA will demonstrate
the ADS full concept by coupling a high-power proton accelerator, a multimegawatts spallation target, and a subcritical reactor at reasonable power level to
allow operational feedback, scalable to an industrial demonstrator, and to allow the
study of efficient transmutation of high-level nuclear waste. Because MYRRHA is
based on the heavy liquid metal technology, namely lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE),
it will be able to significantly contribute to the development of Lead Fast Reactor
(LFR) technology and will have the role of European Technology Pilot Plant in the
roadmap for LFR. The current design of the MYRRHA ADS and its ability to
contribute to the European Commission strategy for high-level waste management
through Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) are discussed in this chapter.
Keywords ADS • HLW Management • MYRRHA • P&T
H.A. Abderrahim (*)
SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
e-mail: haitabde@sckcen.be; myrrha@sckcen.be
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_7
59