The idea

30/10/2025

The nuclear research centre SCK CEN is expanding its calibration services. Since summer 2025, hospitals can call upon SCK CEN to have their radionuclide calibrators for nuclear medicine calibrated. Those devices are used to check the activity before it is administered to a patient. SCK CEN received ISO 17025 accreditation for its calibration services. Having obtained that accreditation, SCK CEN is hoping to help harmonise measurements. And to do so according to international standards.

09/05/2025

Nuclear facilities are growing older and are being used for longer. As a result, surveillance materials (samples of the same material as the reactor vessel) used to monitor reactor vessel safety are becoming scarce. To preserve sufficient material for ongoing safety assessments, progressively smaller test samples are being utilised. The goal of the FRACTESUS project was to demonstrate that fracture toughness of reactor vessels can be reliably assessed using small test samples instead of large specimens. It was successful.

29/08/2025

The Belgium-based SCK CEN Academy and the Nuclear Academy (NRG Pallas and TU Delft) from the Netherlands are launching a new summer school entitled: ‘Your gateway to a career in nuclear’. “This Belgian-Dutch summer school will act in the same way as an 'amuse bouche' does for our taste buds. Our aim is to stimulate and inspire talented young people to pursue further specialist studies and/or take up a career in the nuclear sector," said Michèle Coeck, Director of the SCK CEN Academy.

05/11/2025

How do you deal with radioactive waste when there is no historical data? In the ANUBIS project, SCK CEN is collaborating with SYSCADE on an innovative solution to this challenge. SYSCADE, a spin-off of Delta Services Industriels (DSi), develops mobile technologies for the radiological characterisation of historical, non-conditioned waste in 220-litre containers. This type of waste comes from earlier activities for which the documentation was insufficient or has been lost, and for which other regulations applied, making the exact composition and origin uncertain. SCK CEN is using this mobile technology to analyse the waste containers non-destructively and to further refine analysis methods.

04/12/2025

SCK CEN and Mirion Technologies combine forces to develop E.L.M.O. – an advanced system for the radiological characterisation of large-scale waste containers. This facility is playing a key role in preparations for the surface disposal of category-A waste. This strategic alliance is part of the broader ANUBIS project, targeting the safe and efficient removal of radioactive waste in the dismantling of Belgian nuclear facilities.