MYRRHA Phase 1: MINERVA

A particularly safe world first

MYRRHA will be the world's multifunctional first research reactor powered by a particle accelerator.

But what does that mean?

MYRRHA's reactor core does not have enough fissile material to maintain the chain reaction by itself, so you need a paricle accelerator. This 'fires' protons at the heavy lead-bismuth atomic nuclei. The protons cause neutrons to split off from the lead and bismuth atoms, which in turn cause fissions in the fuel. A chain reaction is set in motion.

When the particle accelerator is shut down, the MYRRHA reactor immediately shuts down. This makes the facility particularly safe.

How does MYRRHA's particle accelerator work?

To ensure maximum reliability, the SCK CEN scientists decided to design MYRRHA on the basis of a linear accelerator (linac). A linac can be designed with fewer interruptions in the beam’s proton flow than a cyclotron. The accelerator has a length of nearly 300 metres so that the beam can achieve sufficient energy.

The energy level of the protons is crucial to produce the neutrons for the chain reaction:

1. The proton beam is fired towards the heart of the reactor;
2. The impact releases neutrons;
3. Those neutrons in turn maintain a fission reaction;
4. Thus, the reactor is activated.