SCK CEN

SCK CEN works actively on the design and construction of a new multi-purpose research plant: MYRRHA, which stands for Multi-purpose HYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications. MYRRHA is a versatile research infrastructure but above all unique. It is the world's first research reactor driven by a particle accelerator.

The special feature of this unique configuration – Accelerator Driven System (ADS) – is the "subcritical" core of the reactor. The core does not have enough fissile material to spontaneously keep the chain reaction going. It must therefore be fed by an external neutron source using a particle accelerator. The particle accelerator fires protons on a target and, in doing so, generates the neutrons that keep the fission reactions in the reactor going. When the particle accelerator is switched off, the chain reaction will stop automatically and the reactor will be shut down within one millionth of a second.