The TU Delft Reactor Institute in the Netherlands has relaunched its research reactor after a series of upgrades. These include the commissioning of a cold neutron source and the improved instruments. The first results of research are expected in October 2024, in line with the official reopening of the reactor. The work was undertaken with assistance from more than 10 national and international partners and suppliers. The TU Delft Reactor Institute is now one of six research reactors in Europe where research can be done with a cold neutron source.
The Institute said it is investing constantly in improving measurement methods and research techniques to enable scientists to perform groundbreaking non-destructive research on materials. These efforts have now entered a new phase thanks to the finalisation of the Oyster programme: Optimised Yield for Science, Technology and Education of Radiation.
The cold neutron source plays a key role within Oyster. Cooled neutrons offer more interaction with a research object than non-cooled neutrons. The quality and speed of measurements with cold neutrons can therefore be improved by a factor of a hundred. Wim Koppers, director of the Institute: “I am proud of the team’s achievements and look forward to receiving researchers and scientists from all over the world to use our research reactor.”
The programme has been financed with funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO – Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research). The project involved a dedicated group of employees and a number of subcontractors. South Korea’s KHC/KAERI was responsible for the design and fabrication of the cold neutron source. Billfinger (Germany) undertook installation of the cold neutron source. Strukton (Netherlands) was responsible for design and construction of the necessary utility systems. Other contractors included Strukton Worksphere, Stirling Cryogenics Netherlands, Demaco Netherlands, Yokogawa, Kreber, Stork, RHDHV, Arcadis, Lloyds/LRQA, NRG and Combigas.
