Medical, energetic, environmental applications

The boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) project at ENEA is mainly based on the TAPIRO experimental nuclear reactor and (more recently) also on the TRIGA reactor, both located at ENEA Casaccia. TAPIRO has two facilities: an epithermal column (EPIMED) constructed for research on deep tumours, such as glioblastoma, and a thermal column (HYTHOR) mainly used in collaboration with the Legnaro National Laboratory (LNL) of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and with the University of Padua for in vivo radiobiological studies and neutron microdosimetry. The feasibility of using the thermal column of the TRIGA reactor to treat explanted livers with BNCT is being studied. The collaboration with INFN Pavia and the University of Pavia on applying BNCT to lung tumours continued. In 2007 the final agreement from the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services (APAT) was obtained and the reactor operating conditions with the EPIMED facility were established. As described in the 2006 Progress Report, the epithermal neutron beam (neutron energy between 1 eV and 10 keV) entering the reactor hall has been shielded by a bunker of limited volume, appropriate for beam characterisation with the reactor operating at a maximum 10% of nominal power (5 kW). The use of nuclear power in space is technically feasible but, due to the remote risk of an accident at launch or in the event of an uncontrolled re-entry, it still remains politically unacceptable. Nevertheless, small and safe nuclear reactors could generate 30-60 kW of electrical power for a period of 10-15 years even in the case of a deep space mission, where conventional energy conversion devices are useless or inefficient. Furthermore, the standard space systems for electrical power generation (photoelectric conversion and radioactive thermal generator) are unable to sustain similar performances even in orbital conditions. A carefully designed nuclear reactor for space application could also be used for satellite (and maybe spacecraft) propulsion. On the basis of these premises a scoping study on the possible space application of nuclear reactors has been started in collaboration with the Energy Conversion Department of the University of Rome La Sapienza. The objective of the Talos Dome Ice Core (TALDICE) project is to drill deep ice in the Talos Dome site (72048'S; 159006'E, 2316 m) on the edge of the East Antarctic plateau, adjacent to the Victoria Land Mountains in the western Ross Sea area (see for reference 2006 Progress Report). The fourth and final campaign of perforation was carried out during the 2007-2008 Antarctic Campaign. The aim was to drill the ice down to the bedrock, initially estimated to be 1550±25 m deep, and recover the brittle zone ice left the previous year in the buffer for relaxation. The camp was opened on 17 November