MYRRHA: Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications

Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications

A European XT-ADS at Mol

MYRRHA is an Accelerator Driven System (ADS) under development at Mol in Belgium. It aims to serve as a basis for the European XT-ADS (eXperimental demonstration of Transmutation in an ADS) and to provide protons and neutrons for various R&D applications. It consists of a proton accelerator delivering a 600 MeV - 2.5 mA (or 350 MeV - 5 mA proton beam) to a liquid Pb-Bi spallation target that in turn couples to a Pb-Bi cooled, subcritical fast nuclear core.

The project started in 1997 and the aim is to have MYRRHA fully operational around 2022-2023.

MYRRHA as an intense irradiation neutron source could also be used for nuclear fuel and material research for present day fission reactors (PWR, BWR) and the new generation reactors (Pb-cooled fast reactor, HTGR) presently called "Generation IV" reactors and for the fusion reactor.

The purpose of MYRRHA is to serve as a multipurpose flexible fast spectrum irradiation facility for research to address:

• ADS technological demonstration
• Waste transmutation studies of minor actinides and long lived fission products
• Structural material studies for PWR, fusion and ADS type reactors
• Nuclear fuel behaviour studies for PWR, BWR and ADS type reactors
• Radioisotopes production for medical & industrial applications
• Proton beam applications

Website: for more information, please visit the MYRRHA website

Contact person(s)

Aït Abderrahim Hamid , De Bruyn Didier , Baeten Peter