Research facilities

SCK•CEN has several research facilities and specialised laboratories for its own research activities and for services to partners and external clients.

BR1, Belgian Reactor 1, is a 4 MWth graphite-moderated, air-cooled reactor. It is extensively used as a neutron source for activation analysis, dosimetry calibration, neutrography and reference reactor experiments.

BR2, Belgian Reactor 2, is one of the most powerful research reactors in the world, used for the testing of fuels and materials for different reactor types and for the European fusion programme. It is also a main instrument for the production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial applications and for silicon doping for the electronics industry.

BR3, Belgian Reactor 3, was a prototype of the pressurised water reactors (PWR's). It was selected as a European pilot project for the optimisation of decommissioning and decontamination techniques and processes and for the realistic assessment of costs.

VENUS is a zero-power critical facility that was intensively used for the validation of reactor core configurations and criticality codes. During 2008 and 2009, the VENUS facility was modified in the framework of the GUINEVERE project. New experiments aim to provide an answer to the questions of on-line reactivity monitoring, subcriticality determination and operational procedures in ADS.

HADES, the underground laboratory at a depth of 225 m, allows the study of clay as potential geological host formation for long-lived and highly active nuclear waste.

LHMA, the Laboratory for High and Medium Activity evaluates the effects of irradiation on materials at use in actual and future nuclear installations. A wide variety of mechanical, physico-chemical and microstructure research tools are available in and out of remotely-operated hot-cells.