Belgium: BR2. Profile 2

The BR2 reactor of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre at Mol started routine operation in January 1963. BR2 is SCK•CEN's most important nuclear facility and was operated during the past 40 years within the framework of many international programmes concerning the behaviour under representative irradiation conditions of structural materials and nuclear fuels for the various types of nuclear fission reactors as well as for fusion reactor research. The particular features of the BR2 reactor also allow experiments aimed at assessing and demonstrating the safety of nuclear cores. Today, the reactor plays an essential role in the national and international programmes related to: - The safety of nuclear reactors, plant lifetime evaluations and ageing of components; - The development and qualification of nuclear fuels, the increase of their burn-up and the use of MOX fuels; - The evolution and assessment of safety problems.