HOME
Nuclear materials
Within the research domain of nuclear materials, SCK•CEN develops and assesses materials behaviour in nuclear environments.
Scope
The scope of our activities comprises:
- Structural materials
- Fuels
- Radioisotopes
The targetted systems for this research are current nuclear installations as well as future applications of nuclear energy, currently under development.
Research methods
The overall approach towards the different material challenges combines:
- The experimental study of materials
- The mechanistic understanding of the observed behaviour
- Its implementation in numerical simulations that enable the prediction of the behaviour of materials in a nuclear environment
These activities aim to safeguard our own expertise and offer high added value services to the nuclear industry
Research activities
- The scientific/technological evaluation of the performance and life span of materials used in existing power plants.
- The development and validation of materials for advanced fission reactor concepts (ADS-MYRRHA, GEN IV) and for fusion (ITER, DEMO).
- The qualification of evolutionary fuels for present-day reactors.
- The development and qualification of new fuels for advanced reactor concepts (research reactors – M-TRs, ADS-MYRRHA, GEN IV – lead fast reactor LFR & gas fast reactor GFR).
- The development of new radioisotopes for medicine and the enhanced neutron transmutation doping of Silicon.
These research activities are performed within the institute for Nuclear Materials Science.
Contact person(s)