The Reactor Institute Delft is to receive a financial injection that will enable the institute to maintain and strengthen its position as a centre of expertise and education in the field of nuclear technology and radiation. This was decided by the Dutch Council of Ministers on 20 January. The extra funds mean that the nuclear reactor can be fitted with a Cold Source. New, innovative research instruments will also be developed. These are essential for research into the detection and treatment of cancer, amongst other things, and the development of materials for sustainable energy technology.
Cold Source, innovative research instruments
The Reactor Institute Delft, home to TU Delft’s nuclear research reactor, will receive a financial injection from the State to implement the OYSTER programme. Together with the funds that TU Delft and commercial parties are raising, this financial injection will give the institute the boost it needs to be able to maintain its position as the centre of scientific expertise in the field of nuclear and radiation research and education. The aim of OYSTER (Optimised Yield – for Science, Technology and Education – of Radiation) is to realise the Cold Source, new innovative instruments and a better position as a centre of expertise in the next ten years.
The most significant improvement in terms of the research with the reactor comprises the purchase of a Cold Source: a device that can slow down the speed of neutrons. This enables particles to be more accurately guided for applications such as material research. The existing research instruments in the reactor will also be improved and new innovative instruments will be developed to facilitate groundbreaking research. Director of the Reactor Institute Delft and TU Delft dean, Tim van der Hagen: “One of the things OYSTER will make possible is the development of a new generation of medical isotopes for detecting or destroying cancer cells.
The slower neutrons are also much better at detecting abnormalities in materials, which means for example that the efficiency of solar panels and the capacity, charge rate and safety of batteries can be drastically improved.” Van der Hagen is very pleased that the government is also investing in the realisation of the new PALLAS reactor. “In this way the government is investing in an extremely strong nuclear knowledge structure. PALLAS and OYSTER place the Netherlands amongst the global leaders in nuclear knowledge and product development.”
Centre of nuclear expertise and education
The Reactor Institute Delft is the Dutch centre for multidisciplinary scientific research and education in reactor physics, neutron and positron radiation, radiation detection and radiochemistry. A large part of the research focuses on medical applications, such as the production of medical isotopes and the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In addition, new materials are being developed for sustainable energy such as solar cells and batteries and work is being carried out to develop the nuclear reactors of the future. The Reactor Institute Delft is moreover the organisation in the Netherlands that trains the most people to work with radiation. It also provides international workshops and trainings and is one of the thirteen worldwide Collaborating Centres of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). At the request of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the RID is furthermore participating in the European Spallation Source (ESS), the most powerful neutron source in the world, which is currently being built in Sweden. The RID is the only scientific nuclear centre of expertise within a 500 km radius.
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